GUIDE · GRADES
Ceremonial vs culinary vs supermarket matcha
Ceremonial matcha is made from young first-harvest leaves and is meant to be whisked with water and drunk on its own. Culinary matcha is made from later, coarser harvests and is meant to be cooked or blended into sweetened drinks, where a stronger, more bitter flavour is useful. Supermarket matcha is usually culinary grade sold without saying so.
Updated October 2026
What is ceremonial matcha?
Matcha from the first harvest of the year, typically shade-grown for around twenty-one days before picking, then steamed, dried and milled to a very fine powder.
The point of all that is drinkability. Good ceremonial matcha is sweet and savoury enough to drink with nothing but hot water, no sugar and no milk to hide behind. That is the test.
What is culinary matcha?
Matcha from later harvests, where the leaf is tougher and higher in the compounds that read as bitter. It is often coarser, and duller in colour.
This is not a bad product, it is a different one. In a sweetened latte, a smoothie or a cake batter, a bolder and more bitter matcha actually survives better than a delicate one. Using ceremonial matcha in a brownie is mostly a waste of money.
What about supermarket matcha?
Most matcha on a UK supermarket shelf is culinary grade, and the label often does not say which grade it is at all. It has usually also been sitting in the supply chain for a long time, which matters more than grade.
That is why supermarket matcha so often tastes bitter and looks khaki rather than green, and why people conclude they do not like matcha when what they actually do not like is old, late-harvest matcha.
How do I tell them apart?
Colour. Ceremonial is vivid green. Culinary is duller, more olive.
Taste in water. Whisk a little with hot water and nothing else. Ceremonial should be drinkable and faintly sweet. Culinary will taste sharp and astringent.
The label. If it does not tell you the harvest or the region, assume the answer is not flattering.
Which one should I buy?
If you are drinking it as tea, or making a latte you do not want to sweeten, buy ceremonial. If you are baking with it or making sweet blended drinks, culinary is the sensible choice and cheaper.
Hikari, Shōgun and Hōjicha are first harvest from a single Uji tea house, milled monthly. Okumidori comes from Yame, in Fukuoka. All of them are packed weekly in London. We do not sell a culinary line.
Hikari, Shōgun, Okumidori and Hōjicha compared
| Tea | Character | Caffeine | Best for | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hikari | Smooth, naturally sweet, high umami | Standard | Drinking straight, or a latte without sugar | £28 / 30g |
| Shōgun | Deeper and bolder, nutty, holds through milk | Standard | Strong lattes, and anyone who finds matcha too mild | £27 / 30g |
| Okumidori | Very nutty, toasted sesame finish, no bitterness | Standard | Drinking straight, or a nutty latte | £35 / 30g |
| Hōjicha | Roasted, toasty, mellow, gently sweet | Low, about a quarter of matcha | Evenings, and anyone cutting back on caffeine | £23 / 30g |
One honest caveat: grade is not the whole story. A carefully made culinary matcha that was milled last month will taste better than a ceremonial one that has been open in a warehouse for a year. Freshness beats labelling.
Questions people ask
Is culinary matcha bad?
No, it is a different product. In a sweetened latte, a smoothie or a cake, a bolder and more bitter matcha survives better than a delicate one.
Why does supermarket matcha taste bitter?
It is usually culinary grade and has often sat in the supply chain for a long time, so it tastes bitter and looks khaki rather than green.
Does Raku sell culinary matcha?
No. Hikari, Shōgun and Hōjicha are first harvest from one Uji tea house, Okumidori is a single-cultivar matcha from Yame, and we do not sell a culinary line.