Ceremonial grade matcha is the highest quality of matcha green tea. It is made from the youngest tea leaves, which are carefully grown in the shade to increase chlorophyll levels and enhance the flavor. These leaves are hand-picked, steamed, dried, and stone-ground into a fine powder.

You can often identify ceremonial grade matcha by noting the following four characteristics:

1. Vibrant Green Color: Due to the high chlorophyll content from shade-growing, the powder is a bright, vibrant green.
2. Smooth Texture: The powder is finely ground, resulting in a very smooth texture.
3. Sweet, Umami Flavor: The taste is delicate, with a natural sweetness and umami flavor, without the bitterness often found in lower grades.
4. High Antioxidant Content: Rich in antioxidants, especially catechins, which have various health benefits.

Why does Japan not use the term ceremonial grade?

It’s important to keep in mind the term "ceremonial grade" is widely used outside of Japan to denote the highest quality of matcha which is associated with traditional tea ceremonies. In the US for example, ceremonial grade matcha is typically enjoyed on its own, mixed with hot water, or prepared as a matcha latte. However, this classification does not have a basis in official Japanese standards. 

In Japan, matcha quality is typically categorized by its intended use, such as for tea ceremonies, culinary purposes, or everyday drinking, without specific grades like "ceremonial" or "culinary" being officially certified. 

“Ceremonial grade" from a Japanese perspective is really just a marketing term created for international markets to help consumers differentiate between varying qualities of matcha. Therefore, while the term is popular abroad, it does not reflect an authentic Japanese grading system.

How is Ceremonial Matcha Produced?

Each step of authentic production leading up to, and during harvest is critical. Ultimately, each step combines equally towards the end product of superior quality stone-ground, ceremonial matcha. 

Cultivation of matcha

The foundation of any nutritious vegetable or other crop starts with the soil, and perhaps the most well-cared-for soil in the world is found in the matcha-growing hillsides of Uji, Japan. The land there has been carefully maintained with the best natural fertilizers for nearly millennia.

The Japanese’s traditional knowledge of the environment has also helped protect against industrial contaminants. These areas remain serene and nationally treasured by the people of Japan. Yet with rising demand internationally, portions of this area have been converted to grow USDA Organic matcha. 

Certification requires very strict regulations for soil health and transparent processing. Even now, there is Ceremonial Organic matcha, a level of quality previously unattainable with approved fertilizers.

Here are a few more easy tips to help you identify pure, authentic matcha if you visit a tea farm:

1. Hand-picked matcha: The labor of hand-picking adds to the cost of premium matcha, it’s worth those extra couple of bucks to steer clear of industrial methods.
2. Bright emerald green: You can stay safe by aiming for the best, most vibrant green color matcha you can afford.
3. If you visit a matcha farm in person, seeing bugs is a good thing: If you ever visit yourself, try and find a tea field with a minor presence of insects. That’s a good indicator of clean cultivation practices (i.e. free of pesticides).

To learn more about the different grades of matcha click here.

Lighting conditions needed for growing matcha green tea leaves

An essential part of growing ceremonial quality matcha is to optimize the amount of shade the tea plants get. The tea master decides 2-4 weeks before harvest, individually for each plot of tea plants, when to begin the process of ‘pre-harvest shading’ 

This ancient method is revered to improve matcha’s yield of savory flavor (from the amino acid L-theanine) and health-promoting antioxidants (for example, EGCG). The timeline and intensity of this shading process directly influence the type of matcha produced.

Tea masters can control the humidity and intensity of light using this type of material, triggering the tea leaves to grow wider, thinner, and deeper into an emerald green. And if you’re staring at a vibrant green, sweet-smelling cup of matcha, then you know it was shaded correctly using natural fibers.

Typically they are tight-woven, light-filtering shade clothes, a natural fabric material. They have different intensities of light filtering and each plot of tea plants is dynamically shaded by layering them. This level of finely-tuned shading also gives rise to more nutrition, with concentrated vitamin and mineral benefits. 

Ultimately, it’s true that keeping things 100% traditional like the shading is a cost of labor, making your premium bowl of matcha a bit more expensive. But, the difference is outstanding! Upon trying them each, many decide to stay with thick tea (i.e. Ceremonial Grade), rather than sipping grades (thin tea) or culinary types (bitter, lower cost, used for baking).

Fertilization and soil care of matcha

Besides the harvest of authentic matcha being incredibly precise and labor-intensive, there’s more techniques involved than meet the eye. During the time before harvest, the soil each plant grows in is also carefully reinforced with the highest quality fertilizers.

The tea master reads the characteristics that each tea plant shows to calculate what amendments are needed, and how much. Attention is year-round but is given especially before the pre-harvest shading period. 

This time is pivotal in the yield and quality of matcha each year, where the change of conditions (light, humidity, nutrition) are deciding factors determining each leaf’s composition. Soil amendments essentially give the tea plants critical fuel in being able to produce savory flavors, healthy compounds, and other desirable changes.

For centuries, the most typical of traditional fertilizers has been nitrogen-rich fish meal. Among great plant foods, sometimes pure nitrogen is added to the soil as well, to boost the flavor, yield, and the end consistency of the tea powder.

In conjunction with controlled sunlight, a detailed accounting for soil condition is one of the utmost vital factors in developing matcha with high concentrations of healthy compounds. These include potent antioxidants, brain-boosting amino acids, micronutrients, and other nutraceuticals.

In one sense, limited light stops upward growth, as the fertilizer helps the plants fill outward with thinner, yet densely nutritious leaves. When you enjoy high-quality matcha tea, the great energy you feel is a direct link to all of that hard work.

Varietals (A.K.A. CULTIVARS) of matcha

With any domesticated crop, there are different heirloom varietals (cultivars, strains) that have been bred for different characteristics. All matcha-producing plants are a unique group of tea cultivars, much the same as you might have with different types of grapes for wine. 

They've been ‘designed’ exclusively for preparation as a powdered whole leaf. This is an important difference between matcha and green tea, and the subtleties between them might surprise you. Each varietal has its own aromatics and flavor profile.

Varietals even differ in the level of astringency on the palate. Some, with bitter, yet savory notes; others with a total sweet, grassiness. These are a few of the intricacies at play in each sip from your matcha bowl. Further distinguishment involves the chemical composition of the matcha, for example, one cultivar may produce greater levels of amino acids, whereas another may have more antioxidants or l-theanine.

It’s also common that different varieties are blended (again, very similar to wines) and powdered to form a final matcha powder. Tea leaves may be considered based on a shared soil (e.g. Single-Estate Organic Matcha). 

Others may be blended from a single cultivar (such as Master’s Blend Matcha), such as when composition and calming effects are of foremost importance (like Japanese Tea Ceremony). This wide selectability gives tea masters an opportunity to craft specialty blends and annual reserves; even to gradually develop new cultivars.

The process of blending is noteworthy since it allows for a level of flexibility in achieving great matcha. Crafting varietals together provides increased access to annual supplies, helping premium quality matcha to be enjoyed on a wider scale, each year, across the world!

Processing of matcha powder (STONE-GRINDING)

There’s only one traditional and authentic way to process matcha from leaves into a final powder without damaging its quality: slow, stone-grinding. Also known as stone-milling. 

Any deviation from this time-tested practice can result in negative changes in flavor and nutrient quality. An example would be if a tea facility decided to use a high-power blender instead of a slow, stone-grinder. Machine-powered blending creates heat on a microscopic level which can quickly oxidize and ruin matcha green tea.

Industrial powdering is far from the more authentic means. Stone-grinding uses grooved stones rotating with a high torque. Dried leaves are slowly funneled between the stones and gradually extruded. Over the course of about one hour – this process may only powder approximately one ounce (30g) of matcha.

At this point, the powder measures only nanometers. It’s the only available process that maintains quality. Unlike quick powdering machines, stone-grinding preserves nutritional properties and biologically active health compounds.

Keep these tips in mind to know ceremonial grade vs. lower quality matcha 

Comparing different cafe matcha

This information comes at a time when retail coffee chains are increasing their number of matcha offerings, and new people every day are exposed to this tea without any real guidance. So, as we all further develop our connection with this traditional health beverage, bear in mind the relevance of where your matcha is sourced, how it is grown, and how it’s intended. 

Is Starbucks Matcha Latte, Dunkin’ Donuts Matcha Latte, or Making Matcha Latte at Home Healthier?

In learning to recognize premium ceremonial quality matcha, you’ll be sure to feel a sense of respect and gratitude – perhaps awe – at the craftsmanship that’s poured into producing it. Our tea farm is one of the oldest in Japan and one of the few still practicing each of those steps involved in traditional cultivation.

At the end of the day, it’s recommended to always source matcha that is 100% stone-ground, boasts a vibrant emerald color, and flavor-wise more savory, and sweet rather than astringent or bitter. 

The Bottom Line

If you’re interested in matcha for its taste, the ritual, the health benefits – or all of it – chances are you will likely enjoy a ceremonial grade blend or any other authentic Japanese matcha of the highest quality. 

Familiarizing yourself with the painstaking labor and careful cultivation techniques that go into matcha is one certain way to be able to know more about the matcha your drinking and if it's up to your personal standards.