Making matcha is a ritual. Many American cafés don’t give the ritual the respect that the Japanese tea, which is meant to be prepared delicately, deserves. Matcha primarily presents itself in two forms: ceremonial grade and culinary grade. If you order matcha from a café that does give it the proper attention, you are likely sipping on ceremonial grade matcha that has been agitated in a small bowl with water using a bamboo whisk.
The word “matcha” implies that the tea leaves have been ground into a powder form. The tea leaves before they are ground are called tencha leaves. While you can steep tencha leaves on their own, they are typically harvested and consumed to make matcha. Matcha has become commercialized enough so that when Americans buy it, we typically understand that we’re purchasing a powder.
When purchasing coffee beans, we generally have two options: whole beans, which require a grinder, and preground beans. Grinding whole beans right before brewing results in a fresher cup of coffee. So why haven’t we commercialized the option to ground our own tencha leaves into fresh matcha powder? While they’re harder to find, you can buy tencha leaves online, in specialty stores, and from Cuzen itself.
Welcome to the Grind
The Cuzen Matcha machine introduces us to freshly ground matcha. It’s a small, square-shaped machine that automates the process of making matcha. The main part of the machine is 9.9 x 8.9 x 4.9 inches, but the grinding component, which is a metal barrel that protrudes from the top, adds about 4 inches, making the total height 13.9 inches. This gadget provides a mostly hands-free means of making a cup of matcha in about two and a half minutes.
The two primary components of the machine are the barrel that contains the grinder, and the cup that sits underneath to catch the fresh powder. Once you remove the bamboo lid at the top of the tube, you see the gray plastic piece on the top that contains a metal handle to help pull the whole thing out when needed. This is where you pour the leaves in.
Phtoograph: Andrew Watman
The machine is designed so that you can insert an entire packet of leaves, which apparently stay fresh for about a month. Since the machine comes with a variety of tencha leaves, I like to try a variety, so I don’t like to put so much in there at one time. This gray piece twists onto the piece below to lock it into place. If you unlock it while there are still leaves in there, it’s pretty tough to relock it into place. I needed to flip it upside down to unload the leaves in order to twist it back on. It sounds annoying because it is.
