What Color Can Matcha Be

For several years now, Japanese matcha tea has been gaining the reputation of a classic in the bar menu of coffee shops, cafes and restaurants in big cities. In some of them, guests are offered not only the traditional matcha latte , but also matcha- raf, matcha with spices, yuzu (Japanese half mandarin-half lemon), salted caramel, pistachio, rosemary, lavender, etc. In smaller coffee shops, you can mostly find only matcha latte on the menu - and often it's anything but matcha .

Along with the green matcha latte (as it should be), drinks with the name " matcha ", but absolutely without the presence of matcha in the composition, began to appear in all colors of the rainbow. Let's try to understand how the colored powder became the main deception in the bar menu of establishments, and what matcha really is.

Appearance of the match

The history of the match in our country is not so many years old. Previously, those interested in the topic tasted some matcha drinks, but establishments did not see the prospects in a monoconcept with different matcha drinks . In addition, the matcha was of low quality, often had a fishy aftertaste and bitterness. At that time, there were not so many suppliers, and there were very few quality matches on the market, as well as those who understood the product. But over time, everything got better.

When choosing a supplier, responsible companies first of all pay attention to the product: the taste of tea , uniqueness, price-quality ratio. It is best to work with the ceremonial grade of matcha , which has a wonderful balanced taste. But high-quality matcha is expensive.

Japan and colored lattes

If you were to go to Japan, you would be surprised that there such a phenomenon as matcha latte is not as common as here. It is also interesting that in most coffee shops matcha is prepared with cow's milk - the trend for plant-based is not so popular. However, this does not apply to specialized matchmaking establishments.

And what about colored lattes, which we call blue, pink, yellow matcha ? Colored matcha drinks do not exist in Japan, and it is unlikely that they will ever become popular. It is a country with a rich tea heritage, and its people, who respect the tradition, history and culture of tea, have a clear idea of ​​what true matcha tea should look like in terms of color and taste, as well as what it is made from. This basic knowledge is passed down from generation to generation and very rarely changes. This is as strange as, for example, suggesting to the Italians not to use durum wheat flour to prepare pasta, and suggesting to us to cook herring under a fur coat without herring, replacing fish with meat.

Unfortunately, information about colored powders, which for some reason are called blue, pink, yellow matcha , began to reach us and spread in other countries more and more often. This trend appeared a few years ago, when some (non-Japanese) companies began to produce and distribute in the form of tea a homogeneous raw material (powder) from such types of plants as clitoris (blue, blue), rose flowers or beetroot (pink), hibiscus flowers (red), turmeric root (yellow) and so on. From their point of view, these vegetable dyes, like matcha , have the same ability to naturally color food and dissolve in drinks to create blue, pink, red, yellow matcha latte . And we did not stay away from the distorted information field regardingmatcha _

Vendors have a particular commercial interest in natural color powders, which are mainly grown and produced in low-cost countries in Southeast Asia and Africa, because they have a low purchase cost. The authenticity of traditional matcha tea from Japan does not fit into their pricing policy and does not offer a large selection of colors other than emerald green, which is what real quality Japanese matcha tea has .

What is colored matcha ?

Now the situation with colored matcha in some countries and coffee shops is becoming absurd. There is black matcha (based on charcoal), mango matcha ( from mango powder) or cedar matcha (which is basically unclear). Such drinks do not contain matcha tea at all. And this definitely confuses consumers.

The main problem is that a lot of false information comes from the companies that sell colored matcha . In general, such powders can be treated calmly, but the main complaint against those who use the name " matcha " is about ground clitoris, beetroot, turmeric, etc. Such a product can be packaged and presented to the audience in a very cool and original way, without resorting to marketing deception. 

Colored drinks are a trend that will not take long to become popular. This is just an interesting, short-lived, colorful story for Instagram, but the taste of such drinks is still not too natural. Such drinks can hardly become a classic. Moreover, such drinks cannot be classified as matcha , as they are not. Colored drinks are an inexpensive opportunity for an establishment or brand to offer something interesting, as everyone has different capabilities.

Norms of definition of green tea

It should be mentioned about the official documents of Japan. There is a definition of matcha in the large interpretive dictionary "Daidzirin" : " Matcha is tea obtained as a result of grinding tentia tea leaves. Tentya - young green tea leaves grown in a sun-protected manner, steamed and dried for grinding on stone mills to make matcha .

In Japanese, the word "matcha" ("matcha " ) is denoted by 2 characters - "powder" and " tea " ("tya"). The "tea" itself is the same Camellia sinensis (tea bush, a type of evergreen shrub).

Also, in Japan there is a document "Regulations on the norms for the definition of green teas ". In it under number 8 there is a definition of what exactly can be interpreted as matcha tea . The text is identical to the definition in the explanatory dictionary: "made only from awning" - without impurities and color additives.