Why Does Matcha Taste Bad at First? You Might Have Never Had Good Matcha

Before you get offended, hear us out.

You probably didn’t start drinking matcha because somebody told you:

“You need to try this. It tastes incredible.”

You probably heard about everything else first.

The energy.
The focus.
The antioxidants.
The caffeine.
The lack of the usual coffee feeling afterward.

Then one day, you finally ordered one.

And maybe it wasn’t great.

Maybe it tasted bitter.

Maybe it tasted like grass.

Maybe it tasted like sweet milk that happened to be green.

Maybe you convinced yourself you liked it because everyone else seemed to.

And somehow, you kept drinking matcha.

That raises a question we think about a lot at Bella Mia:

How many people think they dislike the taste of matcha when they actually dislike the matcha they were served?

Why does matcha taste bitter?

Matcha naturally has some bitterness and astringency. It is tea, after all.

But harsh bitterness can come from the quality of the leaves, freshness, storage, dosage or preparation. Water that is too hot can also make bitterness much stronger.

That means one bad cup can give you a very wrong idea of what matcha is supposed to taste like.

The same applies to a matcha latte.

Too little matcha and all you taste is milk.

Too much syrup and you lose the tea completely.

Poor matcha can taste dull, harsh or overly grassy.

And suddenly you’re drinking something green without really tasting matcha.

So what should good matcha taste like?

Good matcha has character.

You should notice a fresh vegetal flavour, natural sweetness and umami - the savoury depth that good matcha is known for. A little bitterness can be part of it, but it shouldn’t dominate the cup. 

It also shouldn’t need an unreasonable amount of sugar to become drinkable.

That doesn’t mean every matcha tastes identical.

Different cultivars, growing regions, harvests and preparation methods can all change the flavour.

But “aggressively bitter” should not be the expectation.

Maybe matcha has a taste problem, not a popularity problem

Matcha is everywhere now.

People know what it is.

They’ve seen the bright green drinks. They’ve heard about the caffeine. Someone in their friend group probably already orders one.

The harder part is convincing somebody who had a bad first matcha to try another one.

Because once you decide matcha tastes like grass, every green drink starts with something to prove.

That’s why one of our favourite reactions at Bella Mia is still:

“Wait… this is actually really good.”

It happens all the time.

Not because people expected us to make something bad.

Because they expected it to taste like matcha - and somewhere along the way, “matcha” became associated with something you tolerate for the benefits.

We don’t think it should be.

Did people start drinking matcha for the taste?

Probably not everyone.

Coffee drinkers talk endlessly about flavour.

Wine drinkers talk about flavour.

People will argue about pizza for hours.

Matcha often gets introduced differently.

People talk about what it does before they talk about what it tastes like.

That may be changing.

As people learn more about matcha quality, cultivars and preparation, taste becomes part of the conversation too.

And that’s probably better for matcha in the long run.

Because a drink shouldn’t need a list of benefits to justify drinking it.

You should actually want another one.

So, did you ever dislike matcha?

Think about the first matcha you ever had.

Was it actually good?

Or did you just assume that bitterness, grassiness or green milk was what matcha was supposed to taste like?

Because there’s a decent chance you didn’t dislike matcha.

You just hadn’t had one you liked yet.

So now we’re curious:

What got you into matcha first?

The taste?

The benefits?

Or did a friend influence you into ordering one?