Grades, origin & product choice
Umami, Astringency and Sweetness: The Vocabulary of Matcha Flavour
Matcha taste comes down to a balance of a few attributes: umami (savoury depth), sweetness, bitterness and astringency (the drying feeling on the tongue), plus aroma, texture and finish. Bitterness is a taste and astringency is a sensation; separating the two is the single most useful step in talking about matcha. When a team uses the same words for the same things, tasting notes become comparable, sample tests become fairer and bitterness complaints get solved faster.
The core vocabulary
| Term | What you notice | Where you notice it | Usually linked to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Umami | Savoury, brothy, rounded depth | Across the mouth; a rounded, filling sensation | Shading, young first harvest leaf |
| Sweetness | Soft, gentle sweetness without sugar | Across the palate; often clearest in the finish | Young leaf, fresh powder, cooler water |
| Bitterness | A bitter taste, like dark chocolate or coffee | Often most noticeable in the finish and aftertaste | Hotter water, overdosing, later harvest leaf |
| Astringency | Dry, gripping, puckering feel | Gums, cheeks, tongue surface | Hotter water, leaf grown in more sun, long contact |
| Vegetal / grassy | Fresh green notes: cut grass, spinach, peas | Aroma and first sip | Freshness, leaf type |
| Marine | Seaweed-like, savoury aroma | Aroma, mixing with umami | Often found alongside strong umami |
| Body | Weight and fullness in the mouth | Overall | Dose, fineness of milling, whisking |
| Texture | Smooth, silky, or powdery and gritty | Tongue, last sip | Milling, sieving, whisking |
| Finish | What lingers and for how long | After swallowing | Overall balance |
A note on "smooth": people use it for both low astringency and fine texture. Ask tasters which one they mean.
What drives each attribute
Umami and sweetness
As general tea knowledge, shading the plants before picking moves flavour towards more umami and less astringency, and the first harvest of the year tends to be sweeter and rounder than later pickings. The first harvest explainer covers this. Freshness matters too: a powder that has been open too long tastes flatter and loses its sweetness.
Bitterness and astringency
These come partly from the leaf and partly from you. The two biggest levers behind the bar are:
- Water temperature. Hotter water brings out more bitterness and astringency. Ippodo's usucha guidance uses water at 80 °C.
- Dose and dilution. Too much powder for the water, or too little water to dilute it, concentrates both.
If guests describe a latte as bitter, the troubleshooting guide for bitter matcha lattes works through the causes in order.
Body and texture
Dose, milling and whisking decide most of this. A fine, stone-milled powder, sieved and whisked properly, feels silky. Clumps, under-whisking and coarse powder feel gritty.
Tasting in water vs in milk
Learn the vocabulary with water, then apply it to milk.
| In water (usucha) | In milk (latte) | |
|---|---|---|
| Umami | Clear and easy to judge | Often reads as "depth" or "matcha presence" |
| Sweetness | Subtle; best judged in the finish | Merges with milk's own sweetness |
| Bitterness | Fully exposed | Softened by fat and sugar |
| Astringency | Fully exposed | Reduced, but can still dry the finish |
| Colour | Judged in the bowl | Judged after milk goes in |
Water is where differences between powders show most clearly, which is why a buyer's tasting usually starts there. The usucha tasting method for buyers sets out the procedure; Ippodo's basic guide (2 g matcha, 60 ml water at 80 °C, whisked briskly for about 15 seconds) is a reasonable starting point.
A tasting sheet your team can copy
Score each attribute 1 (low) to 5 (high). The aim is description, not a single "good or bad" score.
| Attribute | Score 1–5 | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Umami | ||
| Sweetness | ||
| Bitterness | ||
| Astringency | ||
| Vegetal / marine aroma | ||
| Body | ||
| Texture (5 = silky) | ||
| Finish length | ||
| Overall: would you serve it? | Yes / No |
Taste in the same order each time, cleanse with water between samples, and have each person write their notes before anyone speaks. For a scorecard built for supplier comparison rather than vocabulary, use the matcha sample scorecard.
Words to avoid in guest descriptions
Keep menu language to taste and origin. "Rich umami, gentle sweetness, smooth finish" is useful. Wellbeing claims are regulated in the EU and do not belong in flavour notes. Also avoid "no bitterness at all" unless you are certain; matcha naturally carries some.
Practise with a matcha made for water
Ceremonial Matcha is made for pure preparation with water (usucha) and premium serves: matcha from Uji (Kyoto), Japan, first harvest, stone-milled. It suits vocabulary training because there is no milk between your team and the flavour.
Next step
Order a 10 g sample of Ceremonial Matcha (€4.95 excl. VAT at the time of writing), prepare two or three bowls with the Ippodo guideline, and fill in the tasting sheet as a team. If it is the flavour you want for your pure serve, move on to the 1 kg bag.