A base recipe for cafés sourcing from us — refine it to your house style, and you will have a drink that keeps customers coming back.
Most cafés treat matcha as a powder to dissolve. The result is flat, grassy, and forgettable. The method below takes thirty extra seconds and produces a drink that sells itself — layered, aromatic, and worth talking about.
Treat this as your starting point. Once you know how each step shapes the cup, adjust the grams, the syrup, the milk — and make it your signature.
Regular
Strong
Method
- Weigh the matcha into a small bowl — 2 g (regular) or 4 g (strong).
- Pour in 5-10 ml (regular) or 10-15 ml (strong) of 80 °C water.
- Work into a smooth paste using a chasen. The paste is ready when no dry powder remains and the surface looks glossy.
- Add the remaining 50 ml of 80 °C water. Whisk in a brisk W motion until the surface is covered in fine, even foam.
- Fill a 12 oz glass with ice. Dissolve syrup or agave into the cold milk first, then pour over the ice.
- Slowly pour the matcha into the glass to float it on top of the milk. Serve as two distinct layers.
Why this method — and why it matters.
Most recipes instruct you to sift matcha before whisking. Sifting takes time — and with high-quality matcha, it is unnecessary. Properly stone-milled matcha has already been ground to a consistent, fine particle size. The milling process itself prevents the clumping that sifting is meant to fix.
The paste method addresses preparation differently. A small amount of hot water is worked directly into the matcha before any additional liquid is added. Once fully hydrated into a paste, the powder disperses evenly and completely — no clumps, no grit, no sifting required.
There is a second benefit that matters more for quality matcha: heat activates aroma. The brief contact between concentrated powder and hot water releases volatile compounds that cold liquid cannot. The result is a drink that smells like matcha before the customer takes a sip — and that aromatics-first experience is what separates a memorable cup from a forgettable one.
Serving in two layers.
Pouring the matcha over cold milk instead of mixing it in is not decoration. It is a quality statement built into the presentation.
The top layer is pure, unsweetened matcha concentrate. A customer who drinks from the top first experiences the matcha exactly as it is — its bitterness, its umami, its aroma — before any milk softens it. They then stir, watch the layers merge, and taste the finished drink. That sequence communicates more about the quality of your sourcing than any menu description.
On sweetness, we recommend going light — so the umami and natural sweetness of quality matcha are not covered up. If you do add sweetener, always dissolve it into the milk first. Never into the matcha. This keeps the top layer true to the tea itself, and lets the customer taste both the matcha on its own and the matcha combined with milk — all in a single cup.
It is also operationally clean. The matcha preparation stays neutral and consistent. If a customer asks for no sweetener, you change the milk — nothing about the matcha step changes.
Happy to send samples whenever you'd like to compare.
