Your first bowl of matcha
Five steps, about three minutes.
You will need
- A bowl about 10 cm across, with room to whisk.
- Your bamboo whisk (chasen) and scoop (chashaku).
- Ceremonial-grade matcha, about 2 g: two heaped scoops.
- 70 ml of water at about 80 °C: just off the boil, after a minute or two.
1. Wake the whisk
Soak the prongs in warm water for a minute. Softened bamboo bends instead of breaking, and a warm whisk warms the bowl.
2. Sift
Empty the bowl and dry it. Sift two scoops of matcha into it through a small sieve; it whisks without lumps.
3. Pour
Add the water, hot but never boiling: boiling water makes matcha bitter.
4. Whisk
Hold the bowl with one hand and whisk briskly from the wrist in a quick M or W, not a circle, for about 15 seconds, until a fine foam covers the top. Lift the whisk out from the middle.
5. Drink it while it is warm
Sit down and drink it slowly, straight from the bowl.
Afterwards
Rinse the whisk in warm water, with no soap and never in the dishwasher, and let it dry upright on its holder, which keeps the prongs in shape.