Last updated: 14 August 2026
Making matcha well takes about ninety seconds and four things most people get wrong: the amount, the water temperature, the sifting, and the whisk. Get those right and it is genuinely hard to make a bad cup. Get them wrong — as I did for the better part of a year — and you end up with a gritty, bitter drink and the impression that matcha is overrated.
This article contains affiliate links to teas we recommend. If you buy through them, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only link to brands we’d drink ourselves. Full disclosure.
If you are not yet sure whether you like matcha, it is worth knowing what matcha actually tastes like before you start adjusting your technique — most complaints trace back to the powder, not the method.
The Short Answer
Sift 1–2 teaspoons of matcha into a wide bowl, add about 60ml of water at 70–80°C, and whisk briskly in a W-motion for 15–30 seconds until a fine foam forms. That is the whole method. The two rules that matter most are never using boiling water, which scorches the powder and turns it harsh, and never skipping the sift, because clumped powder will not dissolve evenly no matter how hard you whisk.
What You Need
- Matcha powder. Use ceremonial-grade matcha if you are drinking it plain. Culinary grade is made for lattes and baking and will taste noticeably more bitter on its own.
- A bamboo whisk (chasen). The single most useful piece of kit. Its many fine prongs aerate the tea in a way a spoon cannot. A small metal whisk or an electric frother is a workable substitute; a spoon is not. Adagio stocks whisks and bowls if you are starting from nothing — our guide to the best matcha set covers what is worth buying and what to skip.
- A wide bowl. Any shallow bowl with room to move the whisk works. A narrow mug fights you.
- A small sieve. Matcha clumps in the tin. Sifting takes five seconds and removes the single most common cause of gritty tea.
- A thermometer, or patience. Boil the kettle, then let it stand two to three minutes.
The Method, Step by Step
- Warm the bowl. Swirl a little hot water in it and tip it out. A cold bowl drops the temperature of an already-cool brew.
- Sift 1–2 teaspoons of matcha (roughly 2 grams) into the bowl. One teaspoon for a lighter cup, two for something closer to traditional strength.
- Add about 60ml of water at 70–80°C. Pour down the side rather than straight onto the powder.
- Whisk in a W or M motion for 15–30 seconds. Keep the whisk near the surface and move from the wrist, not the shoulder. You are aerating, not stirring — a circular motion just pushes powder around.
- Check the foam. A layer of fine, even bubbles across the surface means it is ready. Large uneven bubbles mean it needs a few more seconds.
- Drink it soon. Matcha is a suspension, not an infusion, so the powder settles within a few minutes. Give it a quick swirl if it stands.
Thin vs Thick: Usucha and Koicha
Traditional practice recognises two preparations, and knowing the difference explains most of the conflicting ratios you will find online.
Usucha (thin tea) is what nearly everyone means by matcha: roughly 2g of powder to 60–70ml of water, whisked to a foam. It is light, brisk, and drinkable in a few mouthfuls.
Koicha (thick tea) uses about double the powder in half the water, kneaded rather than whisked into something closer to paint than tea. It is intense, syrupy, and demands genuinely good matcha — koicha will expose a mediocre powder immediately. Worth trying once you know you like usucha.
How to Make a Matcha Latte
The trick is making a paste first. Sift 1–2 teaspoons into your cup, add a splash of 70–80°C water, and whisk to a smooth paste with no lumps. Then pour in 200ml of hot or cold milk and stir. Adding milk to dry powder is how you get clumps that never disperse.
Culinary grade is the right choice here — it is built to stand up to milk, and using ceremonial grade in a latte wastes the subtlety you paid for. If you want it sweet, add the sweetener to the paste stage where it dissolves properly.
The Four Mistakes
- Boiling water. The most common error by a wide margin. It scorches the powder and pulls out harsh catechins. Off the boil, always.
- Skipping the sift. Clumps do not whisk out. They break into smaller clumps.
- Too much powder. More matcha does not make it stronger, it makes it muddy and bitter. Stay near 2 grams.
- Stale powder. Ground matcha ages far faster than whole leaf — light, heat, and air dull it within weeks of opening. Keep it airtight, opaque, and refrigerated. Our guide to storing tea covers the principles, and they apply doubly to powder.
If your matcha still tastes wrong after fixing all four, the problem is the powder itself rather than your technique. Our guide to what matcha should taste like describes the target you are aiming for, and the visual cues that separate fresh matcha from tired.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much matcha powder per cup?
One to two teaspoons, or roughly 2 grams, per 60–70ml of water for standard usucha. One teaspoon makes a lighter cup, two gives you traditional strength. Going beyond two does not make the tea stronger in any pleasant way — it makes it muddy and increases bitterness.
What temperature should the water be for matcha?
Around 70–80°C. Boiling water scorches the powder and produces a harsh, bitter cup. If you do not have a thermometer, boil the kettle and let it stand for two to three minutes before pouring.
Can you make matcha without a bamboo whisk?
Yes, though the result is not quite the same. A small metal whisk works reasonably well, and an electric milk frother works very well. A sealed jar shaken hard will do in a pinch. A spoon will not — it cannot aerate the tea, so you get a flat, uneven drink with clumps.
Why is my matcha clumpy?
Almost always because it was not sifted. Matcha compacts in the tin and forms lumps that whisking breaks into smaller lumps rather than dissolving. Pass it through a small sieve first. Adding milk or water directly to dry powder makes it worse.
How long does it take to make matcha?
About 90 seconds once the water is at temperature — a few seconds to sift, and 15–30 seconds of whisking. The slowest part is waiting for boiled water to cool to 70–80°C, which takes two to three minutes.
Matcha rewards precision more than most teas, but the precision required is small: weigh nothing, guess the temperature within ten degrees, sift, and whisk properly. Do that and the difference between a good cup and the gritty version most people give up on is immediate.
