Varieties of Matcha

There are roughly two types of matcha. One is for strong brew, and the other one is for light brew. For the strong brew, less bitter kind of leaves are used. Also, often matcha has own brands. For example, Hatsumukashi-Hatsumukashi, and Nochimukashi-Nochimukashi are both well known brands, and they even appeared in the book, "Honcho Shokan", published in 1967, Edo period. This book also introduces other kinds of matcha such as "Inomukashi-Inomukashi" and "Takanotsume". They are known as high grade matcha since that time. Since matcha is a fine grained powdered tea, they are very delicate and easily affected by heat, air, humidity and light. Therefore, it is very important to pay extra attention for storing. If not, the color of the powder becomes yellow, and the fine powder will stick together and get lumpy. For that reason, after opening the package, the packages needed to be resealed tightly and stored in the cool and dry area with no direct sun light or strong smells. Recently, mactha introduced nitrification packaging to the market. Those special packaged matcha can stay fresh in the freezer for a quite long time, as long as you don't open the package. Still, it is better to use them up quickly after purchasing.

(Junji Tsuboichi)