Why is your matcha bitter

Many people taste matcha, find it bitter, and conclude they don't like it. In the vast majority of cases, they haven't tasted matcha – they've tasted a preparation error.

Four causes explain almost all bitterness. They should be corrected in order.

1. Water that's too hot

This is by far the number one cause.

Green tea contains catechins, compounds with a bitter and astringent taste. Their extraction directly depends on the water temperature: above 85 °C, they pass massively into the water and dominate everything else. The amino acids responsible for sweetness, however, are extracted much earlier.

Correction: 80 °C. No thermometer? Boil and wait two minutes. Or transfer the boiling water to another container: each transfer makes it lose about ten degrees.

Prepare another bowl at 80 °C before concluding anything about your matcha. In half the cases, the problem ends there.

2. The wrong grade

If the water is good and the bitterness persists, the problem is in the packet.

Culinary grade matcha is produced from later, tougher leaves, with shortened or non-existent shading. It contains more catechins and fewer amino acids. It will be bitter regardless of your technique — this is its nature, and it is perfectly suited for baking, where sugar and cooking balance it out.

Drank plain, it is unpleasant, and no method will redeem it.

Correction: a first harvest, shaded matcha, like our Ceremonial Matcha. The topic is detailed in Ceremonial or Culinary Matcha.

3. Overdosing

Matcha is not an infusion: you drink the whole leaf, not its extract. Doubling the dose doesn't strengthen the taste; it saturates the palate.

Correction: 2 g for 60 to 70 ml of water for a plain bowl. A generous but not heaped teaspoon. If it's too bitter, dilute with a little water rather than changing your matcha.

4. Tired matcha

Matcha oxidizes quickly. In contact with air, light, and humidity, its color dulls, its fragrance weakens, and bitterness overtakes everything else.

The sign is visual: fresh matcha is vibrant green, almost saturated. Matcha that tends towards khaki, yellow, or brown has passed its prime.

Correction: hermetic container, protected from light and heat, re-sealed after each use. Count four to six weeks after opening to enjoy the best. Beyond that, it remains consumable, just less good.

What if it's well prepared?

Good matcha is not without bitterness. It has some, but it comes in second, behind a vegetal, almost sweet roundness that dominates the initial taste and lingers after the sip.

What we seek to eliminate is astringency: that rough sensation that dries the mouth and makes you squint. That is always a sign of one of the four causes above.

Three adjustments if you're a beginner

Lengthen. 80 ml of water instead of 60 for the same dose. You lose intensity, you gain comfort. You can tighten it later.

Lower to 70 °C. Below ideal, but the bitterness significantly recedes.

Switch to cold water. Mizudashi — 2g for 200ml of cold water, shaken in a closed container — extracts very few catechins. The result is smooth, fresh, almost without bitterness. It's an excellent entry point.

What not to do

Sweeten to mask. Sugar does not remove bitterness; it hardens it. You must correct the cause, not cover it up.

Add lemon. Acidity turns the color yellow and breaks the aromatic profile.

Whisk longer. Bitterness is not a matter of agitation. Beyond twenty seconds, you are only deflating the foam.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is matcha supposed to be bitter?
Slightly, in the background. If bitterness is the first thing you perceive, something is wrong.

Does bitterness depend on the region of origin?
The terroir influences the profile, but much less than the harvest and shading. A first-harvest matcha from a modest region will be sweeter than a late-harvest matcha from a prestigious region.

Can an overly bitter bowl be saved?
Dilute with 80 °C water, or turn it into a latte: milk rounds it out significantly.

Is organic matcha less bitter?
Organic certification concerns the cultivation method, not the taste. It guarantees neither sweetness nor grade — two distinct things to check separately.

Our three matchas are first harvest, shaded for a minimum of three weeks.
See the range.