Can you drink matcha for baking?
Baking matcha is much less expensive than the premium ceremonial matcha, but can you drink it? 🤔
In this article, we’re going to find out! We’re going to see can you drink matcha for baking once and for all, and what downsides you might experience from drinking it.
Let’s get whisking! 👨🍳
So can you drink matcha for baking, yes or no?
While it's technically edible, drinking it straight will result in an extremely bitter taste. This is due to its unique processing method, which is optimized for baking applications rather than drinking.
We strongly recommend avoiding drinking baking matcha and instead opting for a premium ceremonial matcha produced by one of the small Japanese tea farms we work with.
These premium matcha varieties are cultivated without the use of pesticides and offer a far more enjoyable and nuanced drinking experience.
What is baking matcha?
Now that we’ve given a quick answer to the question can you drink matcha for baking, let’s dive into a bit more detail.
First, what is baking matcha? Baking matcha, or culinary matcha is a very cheap grade of matcha tea.
The different matcha grades
High quality matcha
In order to produce a high quality matcha with a smooth savory flavor, farmers need to go through a long and labor intensive production process. The tea plants need to be shaded for 3 weeks or more before the harvest, the top sprouts are selected and they have their stems removed before being ground into a fine powder.
To find the true best quality matcha, you'll love to see this ranking here 👉 The Top 20 Best Matcha Powders of all Time (disclaimer: our Wazuka Tea Nakai Superior is the #1)
Low quality matcha
To produce low quality matcha, the producer may skip certain steps in the production process. The tea plants may not be shaded so the l-theanine levels will be lower, producing less of a sweet and savory flavor.
Also, low quality matcha can be made from later harvests with less nutrients, older leaves and stems and the grinding may be done improperly, so the powder isn’t as fine. So can you drink matcha for baking? Yes, but it might not be so enjoyable.
Since we've learned can you drink matcha for baking, it might be good to also take a deep dive into how the different types of matcha are made. For that, you can read this article here 👉 Matcha Demystified: Expert Insights on What Matcha is Made Of?
Can you drink matcha for baking if it’s better quality?
Of course there are more than just two levels of matcha quality, so it begs the question can you drink matcha for baking if it’s made from higher quality leaves? This is why we like to use the distinction “latte grade matcha” which is still made from high quality, stone ground leaves, but they are from later harvests.
So can you drink matcha for baking? We recommend you instead go for a latte matcha like the one from Mr. Masuda in Shizuoka, and mix it with some plant based milk and sugar. It will be a lot less expensive than ceremonial grade matcha, but much smoother than baking matcha.
For a complete guide to matcha grades, you should definitely read this article 👉 A guide to Matcha Grades that actually makes sense
Important factors to consider
When it comes to the question can you drink matcha for baking there is a very important consideration to make and that is whether or not the matcha was produced with the use of pesticides or chemicals.
So can you drink matcha for baking? If it’s made without pesticides then yes! All of the tea we source comes from small, pesticide free farms in Japan, and that includes some of our more affordable matcha teas like the latte grade matchas.
Final Verdict
So can you drink matcha for baking? The answer is yes, but the flavor will be much more bitter. If you’re going to be drinking the matcha plain, we recommend you go for a higher quality ceremony matcha. It has a much smoother flavor and it is well worth the investment.
If you are determined to save money on matcha, we recommend that instead of a baking or culinary grade matcha, you go for a latte matcha. This one will have a better flavor, especially when combined with milk and sugar. Just make sure to go pesticide free!
