Preparation & barista workflow
Preparing Pure Matcha (Usucha) for Guests
Usucha ("thin tea") is matcha whisked with water only, served in a bowl. Producer guidance from Ippodo is a useful baseline: about 2 g of matcha, 60 ml of water at around 80 °C, whisked for roughly 15 seconds. For guests, the work is less about the recipe and more about timing: a warm bowl, a fresh whisk and a drink that reaches the table within a minute of being made. Below is a method built for table service.
Service parameters
| Parameter | Baseline | Notes for service |
|---|---|---|
| Matcha | 2 g | Weigh it; a scoop by eye varies too much |
| Water | 60 ml | Measure once into a marked jug |
| Water temperature | about 80 °C | Set or check at the start of each shift; see water temperature for matcha |
| Whisking | about 15 seconds | Until a fine, even foam covers the surface |
| Bowl | pre-warmed, dried | A cold bowl cools the tea quickly |
| Serve | within about a minute | Foam settles and the surface changes as it stands |
The 2 g, 60 ml and 80 °C figures follow Ippodo's guidance for basic usucha. Treat them as a start point: taste with your own water and bowls, adjust once if needed, then fix the numbers in your SOP.
Use Ceremonial Matcha for pure preparation. It is made for serving with water only, where there is no milk to soften the flavour.
Equipment per station
- Scale reading to 0.1 g
- Fine tea sieve
- A matcha bowl wide enough to whisk in; choosing a bowl and scoop for table service covers shapes and sizes
- Bamboo whisk, soaked briefly before first use each shift
- Whisk holder for drying between serves
- Kettle or water tower you can set to about 80 °C
- A small jug marked at 60 ml
- Cloth for drying the bowl
Method
Before service
- Soak the whisk tips in warm water for a minute or two so the tines are flexible.
- Check water temperature with a thermometer.
- Set out bowls, sieve and the working tin of matcha, closed.
For each order
- Warm the bowl. Pour hot water into the bowl, dip the whisk in it, then discard the water and dry the bowl.
- Sieve the matcha. Weigh 2 g and push it through the sieve into the bowl.
- Add water. Pour 60 ml at about 80 °C.
- Whisk. Hold the bowl steady with one hand. Whisk briskly from the wrist in an "M" or "W" pattern, tips just off the bottom, for about 15 seconds.
- Finish the surface. Slow down, lift the whisk to the surface and draw it out from the centre to leave an even foam.
- Serve. Turn the bowl so its front faces the guest, and take it to the table straight away.
- Reset. Rinse the whisk and stand it on the holder; rinse the bowl.
Timing for table service
Usucha does not hold. Build the timing around the guest, not the bar.
| Step | Approximate time |
|---|---|
| Warm and dry bowl | 15–20 s |
| Weigh and sieve | 15–20 s |
| Add water and whisk | 20–25 s |
| Walk to table | depends on your floor |
That is roughly one minute of bar work per bowl. For a table of four, prepare bowls one after another rather than all at once, and have a second person run them, so the first bowl is not waiting for the last.
If usucha follows a meal, ask the kitchen or floor to call it when plates are cleared, not when the dessert order goes in.
Quality checks
- [ ] Bowl warm and completely dry before matcha goes in
- [ ] No lumps or dry powder at the edge of the bowl
- [ ] Fine, even foam with no large bubbles
- [ ] Bright green surface, not olive
- [ ] Served within about a minute of whisking
- [ ] Shift lead tastes one bowl per shift
Common problems
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Lumps | Not sieved; wet bowl | Sieve every dose; dry the bowl after warming |
| Large bubbles, thin foam | Whisking too slowly or in circles | Faster wrist movement in an M/W pattern |
| Bitter | Water too hot | Check temperature; let water rest before pouring |
| Lukewarm at the table | Cold bowl; long wait at the pass | Warm the bowl; serve immediately |
| Whisk tines breaking | Dry whisk; pressing on the bowl bottom | Soak before use; keep tips off the bottom |
Explaining it to guests
Keep it short. Staff can say the matcha is from Uji in Kyoto, first harvest and stone-milled, and that it is whisked to order with water only. Avoid any wellness claims. If you are building usucha into a menu, offering pure matcha as a premium menu item covers pricing and presentation.
Cost per bowl
At €265.00 per kg excl. VAT for Ceremonial Matcha (at the time of writing, November 2026; check the product page for the current price) and 2 g per bowl: €265 × 2 ÷ 1,000 = €0.53 excl. VAT, before waste. That is the matcha only, not the full cost of the serve.
Next step
Practise the method with a 10 g sample of Ceremonial Matcha on your own bowls and water, time a few serves from order to table, and move to Ceremonial Matcha in a 1 kg bag once the method is fixed.