A traditional matcha

How do you prepare traditional matcha tea?

How do you prepare matcha for a traditional tea ceremony?

Preparing traditional matcha tea.

What brings us together here is a shared interest in matcha. For newcomers and the curious, here are the basics for a good traditional ceremonial tea.

First of all, take your time: it's important to take a moment for yourself, breathe, unwind and move calmly, because as the name suggests, it's a "ceremony".

To get started, make sure you have the following accessories:

• Matcha

• Whisk

• Bowl

• Chashaku

• Whisk holder

• Cloth

• Water at 90 degrees

First, warm the bowl and whisk by pouring hot water into the bowl and letting the whisk soak for a moment so that the tines soften and don't break during preparation. Once warm, empty and dry thoroughly.

• With the chashaku, take about 1.5 g of matcha and place it in the bottom of the bowl

• Add a little hot water and whisk the mixture in wide but energetic W shapes until smooth.

• Top up with the amount of water you want, and your matcha is ready!

• Hold the bowl in both hands and savour it.

Perhaps you're familiar with the cartoon Samurai Jack?

First broadcast in Europe on Cartoon Network in 2001.

In one episode, the hero, Jack, prepares matcha tea.

It is a perfect illustration of the tea ceremony, faithfully following the codes and gestures of traditional preparation.

The procedure itself is simple, and it's hard to get it wrong. The secret of success lies in a quality matcha, so choose a ceremonial grade. A ceremonial matcha is smooth in the mouth, with a rich umami taste and a few sweet notes.

If you want to go faster, you can skip some steps, such as:

• Warming the bowl

• Warming the whisk

• Adding the water in 2 stages

You can also use an electric milk frother if you like. But then you can't really call it a ceremony.

There you go, we hope you enjoyed this article.

Have a great day, everyone!