That said, it is also important to note that, as there is no shortage of really bad wine in the world, markets are full of quality matcha very, very poor. Much of it starts badly (through poor agricultural techniques / cost reduction, and by machine harvesting new growth, stems and all) and ends much worse: a bad storage, excess supply and a " race to the bottom "in the price of all add up to be sweetened matcha (ie, sugar has been added to it to make it acceptable) rusts badly (resulting in a hay-like color and aroma ), or just no life and death, bitter, dusty and forgotten. Vile thing is, most unfortunately, this matcha dead, cheap is the only experience with matcha that many people have. If you have tried matcha and do not like, welcome to the club. That's what I had, and is omnipresent.
Bad matcha is actually much worse than two Buck Chuck, it's like pouring a glass of "cooking wine." What it is, in essence, the majority of matcha is for culinary purposes. You can still get enough of a "matcha" flavor to taste good as green tea ice cream, and cookies and cakes and all kinds of sweets. Fats and sugars in confectionery products often mask unpleasant tastes, and the result is quasi-acceptable. Great matcha is very, very different. It is meant to be drunk, like wine, is not used as a cooking ingredient. (We doubt there's anyone on earth that dumps half a bottle of Echezeaux in a pasta sauce.) All amino acids, umami, and acid structure of great matcha remain intact when brewed into a cup, but are destroyed / it was undetectable if the fat, sugar, and heat enter the picture.
