5 WAYS TO TELL IF YOU'RE CONSUMING GOOD QUALITY MATCHA

The green tea plant, called the camilia sinsnus, is like a sponge and heavily absorbs whatever is in its environment. This, coupled with the fact that with matcha you are consuming the tea by actually ingesting the whole leaf, it is extremely important that you are drinking good quality matcha. So, how do you know if you're consuming the best quality matcha? Here are 5 ways you can tell: 

1. SOLUBLE

Naturopathic medicine treats all forms of health concerns – from pediatric to  geriatric, from irritating symptoms to chronic illness and from the physical to the psychological. It is the approach, philosophy and training of naturopathic doctors that sets it apart from other forms of health care.

2. TASTE

Loose leaf green tea has a bitter taste. This is the same with most matcha products and many will have added sugar or artificial sweeteners to hide the bitterness. The best quality matcha will have a smooth, sweet and non-bitter taste without requiring any additives to mask the taste. It has all the good flavour from green tea without any of the bad. Even the kids will love it!

3. GRADE

It's easy to tell good matcha from bad matcha once you've opened the packet. However, unless you're able to try the matcha before you purchase, you will probably have nothing but the information on the packaging to go by. In this case you should always pick the "ceremonial" grade organic matcha. There are lower grades of matcha, such as culinary grade, that are much cheaper and clumpy. These are great for saving money when cooking in large quantities but the ceremonial grade will always taste better. If the packaging does not mention the grade, it is most likely a lower grade and should be much cheaper.

4. SOURCING

The best matcha needs no additives. It is made from harvested baby tencha leaves that are naturally sweeter and have a mellow fruity flavour. The tencha leaves should be grown in the shade to increase their chlorophyll and antioxidant content before they go through a rigorous process of refinement to ensure only the best and tastiest matcha is produced. It should be 100% organic and tested for heavy metals and radiation.

5. COLOUR

Fully certified organic matcha powders often don't have the vibrant green colour that a high grade non-organic matcha can have, and are often slightly duller in colour. This is due to the fertilizers used while the tea leaves are shade grown. As matcha doesn't get it's energy from the sun, it is given extra fertilizer to produce the high levels of chlorophyll, that enhances the natural sweetness, and gives matcha it's incredible jade green colour. Certified organic fertilizers don't provide enough energy and nutrients that a non organic fertilizer can provide.