HomeLooking for the best ceremonial grade matcha? You’ve come to the right place. We’re counting down the top 10 best ceremonial grade matcha teas you can get online. These are the teas we’ve selected after traveling around Japan, meeting with tea farmers, and sampling hundreds of different types of matcha. We’ve also taken a look at reviews and online feedback to find the very best ceremonial grade matcha. Let’s get started. So to be considered the best ceremonial grade matcha, the taste has to be on a much higher level. While the cheap matcha you find online can be made from any old tea leaves ground up into a powder, the best harmonial grade matcha has to be made through a specific process. First, the tea plants need to be shaded for three weeks prior to the harvest. By cutting off the tea plant from sunlight, the farmer is able to produce a smoother flavor with less bitterness. Then, the most nutrient dense leaves are harvested and they have their stems removed to improve their flavor even further. Finally, they are ground into a powder in a large stone mill. It takes this mill a full hour just to produce 50 grams of this precious ceremonial grade matcha.
Now that we’ve talked a little bit about ceremonial grade matcha, let’s jump into our first at #10 we have the Noyke Matcha. The Noyke matcha, of course, deserves a spot on our list. While most of the best ceremonial grade matcha teas can be quite expensive, you can get the Noyke matcha for a fraction of the price. Even though this matcha is inexpensive, it is still nice and smooth with very little bitterness. The Noyke matcha is made from the Okamidori Cult bar, which is normally reserved for the best ceremonial grade matcha. This tea is produced by a farmer outside of Kyoto that manages a small plot of land, focusing on premium quality tea. On our list of the best ceremonial grade matcha is the Sakamoto Sai Matcha. This is a tea we were first introduced to when we visited the legendary tea farmer Mr. Sakamoto in Shibushi, a small town in southern Japan. Mr. Sakamoto specializes in gyokoto, a long, shaded leaf tea that has a distinct sweet and savory flavor, but he just recently started producing matcha as well.
It took him a few years to master the matcha production process, but now he produces some of the best ceremonial grade matcha we’ve tried #8 On our list of the best ceremonial grade is the Goko matcha. This is a special type of matcha from the Asada family in Shizuoka, and it’s made using the rare Goko cultivar. This tea plant variety is rare, but it’s sought after by tea connoisseurs for its bold, savory flavor. If you’re a fan of this umami flavor in your matcha, the Matcha Koyai is a great option for you. At #7 On our list is the Henta matcha from Mr. Henta and Kirishima. What makes this matcha unique is the fact that it’s a blended tea made from two different tea plant varieties. This saimi dori adds a light sweetness to the and the oakmidori rounds out the finish, giving it a smooth flavor profile. The combination of these two great cultivars make the Henta matcha one of the best ceremonial grade matcha. Number six on our list is the Shiran Premium Matcha. This is a tea we discovered during our visit to Shiran, a beautiful town in the far South of Japan. This area benefits from a mild subtropical climate and fertile volcanic soils.
The Shiran Premium Matcha has the thick consistency you might expect from the best ceremonial grade matcha, but it also has a pleasant sweetness in the finish. At number six, we have the Chanoka Silver Matcha from Uji. Uji has a reputation for producing some of the best matcha in the world, and this matcha from Mr. Takata is a great example of this proud tradition. This matcha is rich in flavor, smooth and thick in its consistency, and it produces a wonderful foam. If you want to see what Uji matcha is all about, give this one a try. So a lot of the best ceremonial grade matcha comes with a steep price tag, but #4 on our list is actually quite affordable. The Masuda and Machinohara Matcha is produced in the region of Shizuoka, Japan’s largest tea growing region. This tea has a vibrant green color, a smooth and slightly sweet taste, and it’s significantly less expensive than a lot of the other teas on our list. This tea is made with three different cultivars, the Yabukita, Sayama Kaori, and Okmidori, giving it a nuanced flavor profile. At #3 we are starting to get to the very best ceremonial grade matcha. The Macho Washimine is our pick because of how popular this tea has become.
This is a super smooth Okmidori matcha produced by the Nakai family in Kyoto. While most matcha teas have a little bit of bitterness, the Washamina is pretty much smooth all the way through. When we’ve asked people about their favorite matchas, they usually mention this one because of how little bitterness it has, so this one makes it on the list. Due to popular demand for our number two spot, we have the Asada Okamidori matcha. This is another matcha from the Asada family in Shizuoka, but instead of being made from the Goko cultivar, it’s made from the Okamidori cultivar. What makes this too unique is that it’s able to find this well balanced roasted flavor profile. This is something you wouldn’t normally experience in a matcha, but it really enhances the drinking experience and makes it a matcha unlike any other. So before we get to the last matcha on our list, I think it’s important to point out that the Okami Dori matcha teas are really sweeping the top rankings. This is because most people we get feedback from are looking for a smooth matcha without much of that bitter or grassy flavor. A lot of matcha drinkers actually enjoy this slightly grassy flavor in a matcha, and if this is more of your thing, you should try a premium Yabukita matcha like the Matcha Kakitsubata or Matcha Sisui. If you like a smooth matcha flavor, you’re going to love the next one on our list. So finally, our pick for the best ceremonial grade matcha is the Nakai Superior. This is another Ocmidori matcha from the Nakai family in Kyoto. This tea is harvested and produced with stricter standards than even the wash amine, making it the best ceremonial grade matcha from the Nakai family in our opinion. This tea has a vibrant green color, a rich velvety consistency, a smooth finish with no bitterness, and it produces a very strong foam. Just make one bowl of this matcha and you’ll also be convinced that it’s the best ceremonial grade matcha. Did you agree with our list? Do you have a matcha that you’d like to add? Please let us know in the comments below. If you want to try any of the best ceremonial grade matchas we found around Japan, you can find them on our website, buyontheway.com. Thank you all so much for watching and we’ll see you next time.
