There are a variety of factors that determine matcha grade, including the age of the tea leaves, the amount of sunlight the plant receives, how the leaves were harvested, and more.

Choosing the right grade is essential to getting the most out of your matcha experience. Culinary, premium, and ceremonial are the three most common matcha grades, and each grade is specifically grown and prepared for its intended use. For best results, it’s important to use each grade as it was intended.

3 Leaf Tea carries both premium and ceremonial grade matcha.

Premium grade

Bright, vivid green and smooth tasting, premium matcha is easy to prepare and consistently produces great results, even without using special tools such as a bamboo whisk. Premium matcha is ground very fine, but it doesn’t clump in the same way as ceremonial grade matcha, making it extremely versatile.

We use premium grade matcha made from young, sweet tea leaves as a base for all of our flavored blends. The leaves are machine-harvested and undergo a meticulous quality check before being ground into matcha, and only the best leaves are used. Premium matcha has a smooth, balanced taste without any bitterness, making it perfect for lattes, shakes, smoothies, and more.

Our premium matcha is imported directly from a farm in Shizuoka, Japan – cutting out the middleman allows us to offer greater value at a more affordable cost to our customers.

 

Ceremonial Grade

Deep, rich green with an exceptionally full-bodied, creamy, and sweet taste with a bright finish, ceremonial grade matcha is the highest grade of matcha – it’s the ultimate matcha experience. It’s best to taste ceremonial grade matcha for yourself in order to experience its fullness. Our ceremonial grade matcha is stone ground very fine, which helps to produce a nice froth during preparation. We highly recommend using a sifter and a bamboo whisk to avoid clumping and experience all that ceremonial grade matcha has to offer.

Nearly all ceremonial grade matcha is grown in Uji, Japan, which has the perfect climate and soil conditions for cultivating the highest quality teas, including ceremonial grade matcha.To ensure quality, ceremonial grade matcha is carefully harvested by skilled, experienced hands and processed in small batches.

Ceremonial grade matcha is processed in a similar but more refined way as premium grade matcha, and its price point reflects the labor and expertise needed to produce such superior quality matcha.