If your matcha tastes bitter, the obvious assumption is that you bought the wrong one. Sometimes that's true. But far more often, the matcha is fine, and something went wrong between the tin and the cup.
Good matcha should taste smooth, rounded, and gently savory, with a clean finish. If yours tastes sharp, harsh, or like it's drying out your mouth, one of these five things is usually the reason.
1. The water is too hot
This is the most common cause by a wide margin. Boiling water pulls out more of the compounds that make tea taste astringent, and it flattens matcha's natural sweetness.
The fix: Use water at around 80°C / 175°F. Without a thermometer, boil the kettle and let it rest off the heat for three to five minutes. If you use a hot water dispenser at work, add a splash of cold water to the cup first.
2. Too much powder, too little water
More matcha doesn't mean better matcha. Past a certain point, extra powder only makes the cup more intense and more bitter.
The fix: Start with 2 g of matcha (about 1 teaspoon) to 60–70 ml of water. For a latte, keep the 2 g and add milk on top. If you want it stronger after that, add more a little at a time.
3. It wasn't sifted
Unsifted matcha forms small clumps. When you bite into one, it tastes concentrated and bitter, and it can make the whole cup feel uneven.
The fix: Push the powder through a small sieve before adding water. It takes ten seconds.
4. It was stirred, not whisked
Stirring with a spoon mixes matcha into water but doesn't fully disperse it. The texture comes out thin, and the flavor tastes harsher than it should.
The fix: Whisk quickly in a zigzag pattern for 15–20 seconds, until a fine foam forms. If you don't have a bamboo whisk, a small milk frother or a sealed jar you can shake both work well.
5. The tin has been open too long
Matcha is ground tea leaf, and once it's exposed to air, light, and heat, it starts to lose its color and freshness. Oxidized matcha turns dull green or yellowish, and it tastes flatter and more bitter.
The fix: Close the tin tightly after every use, and store it somewhere cool and dark. If you keep it in the fridge, make sure it's sealed, and let it come back to room temperature before opening so moisture doesn't condense inside. Try to finish an opened tin within 4–5 weeks.
Still bitter?
Try this once as a baseline: sift 2 g of matcha, add 60 ml of water at 80°C, and whisk for 20 seconds. If it tastes smooth made this way, your matcha is fine, and one of the steps above is the variable to adjust.
If it still tastes wrong even brewed this way, contact us. That's what our 30-day guarantee is for.