The DōMatcha® Promise: Why Premium Matcha is More Expensive
March 13, 2024
It’s hard to come back from poor-quality matcha, and you might even turn your nose away from matcha for a while. This is why when it comes to choosing a matcha for daily consumption, or special occasions, premium matcha can make a world of a difference. The heftier price tag it commands is not for no good reason. Premium matcha is crafted from start to finish with precision, experience, and care. It may come from prestigious tea fields and undergo multiple steps and careful selection to arrive in the final tin. It may even be packaged and shipped differently to preserve freshness. Here are some of the reasons why premium matcha is more expensive, and whether it is worth the investment.
The Cost of Labor
Premium matcha, like ceremonial grade matcha, utilizes only the uppermost buds of the Camelia sinensis plant. The buds closest to the sky are the youngest, tenderest, and freshest leaves, which provide a soft sweetness to the final matcha tea and are full of L-theanine and chlorophyll. The green tea plants are slowly pampered with ample shading before being harvested. Canopy shading allows the L-theanine and chlorophyll to develop in the leaves, giving matcha that beautiful, rich emerald shade. Umami, also known as the “fifth taste” is characterized by the L-theanine in green tea and is a signature attribute of premium matcha. It’s a flavor that tea and matcha connoisseurs generally search for in their tastings. L-theanine also provides the unique health benefit of stimulating larger alpha waves in the brain, creating a physiological effect of gentle calmness. Once shaded, the uppermost leaves used for premium matcha are plucked either mechanically or by hand, sorted for irregularities, and quickly dried to preserve the color. Next, comes a crucial step of destemming and deveining each leaf to ensure no stems are ground in the final matcha powder. When you see matcha that is visibly discolored, or is a dull shade of green, it's indicative that it hasn’t been properly destemmed and deveined. Stems create bitterness in the final matcha tea, and some companies may cut costs by skipping this important step, or sometimes, even mixing in leaves imported from other countries like China, or adding fillers like brown rice protein and sugars to mask the bitterness. Finally, the green tea leaves are slowly ground between traditional stone grinders for hours until a fine, matcha powder is produced. This method decreases the particle size as well as enhances the bioavailability of the premium matcha.
As you may see, preparing a traditional, premium matcha requires more time and labor which contributes to the final cost. But the result is incomparable on the palette.
Superior Packaging and Freshness
Undergoing such significant steps to create premium matcha is rendered useless if the packaging, storage, and delivery methods are inferior. Matcha is extremely sensitive to heat, light, oxygen and moisture. Exposure to these elements leads to the degradation of color and flavor. Therefore, premium matcha like DōMatcha® will utilize advanced packaging technology to ensure that the tin is airtight. DōMatcha® was the first to implement the Triple Safety and Freshness protocol in their matcha tins. The outermost steel tin has an airtight seal and the matcha is contained within a food-safe bag with an oxygen absorber which removes all oxygen from within the bag. DōMatcha® goes an extra step and airships matcha directly from Japan instead of using sea shipping. This reduces the amount of time the matcha is spent in transport, where the temperature is unregulated. All this is to ensure that the customer receives a matcha tin that is fresh and of unaltered quality.
Extensive Knowledge and Expertise in Matcha-Making
Like most food products, matcha does not taste the same across every batch, regardless of the quality of the leaves. Therefore, a masterful technique of tea blending is required to achieve an ideal flavor profile, similar to that of coffee and winemaking. Some wines contain grapes from different varietals to achieve a desired taste, and the same goes for matcha. DōMatcha® has worked with a 16th-generation tea master, Mr. Kazunori Handa since inception, who ensures every tin of DōMatcha® is blended to achieve a desirable flavor. Balance is key; you don’t want too much of one type of flavor because it can overwhelm the palette. A harmonious balance ensures consumers can enjoy all the beautiful notes a tea has to offer. Becoming a tea master is usually an accreditation that is passed down through generations of previous tea masters. It requires an extensive amount of training, to adopt a palette that can quickly distinguish different flavors and notes from tea leaves simply soaked in hot water. But this is truly where some of the magic happens, and what differentiates ordinary matcha from one that is of premium calibre.
Premium matcha feels like a worthwhile indulgence if you enjoy green tea and matcha regularly. Although it comes at a steeper price tag, understanding the nuances and technicalities that go into the art of making matcha helps justify the costs. We hope you continue to savor the efforts behind bringing you this premium matcha, and it helps serve your health and mental well-being in some manner.