Tea notes
Ceremonial Matcha on the Upper East Side
Ceremonial grade, whisked to order, and served without anything added unless you ask.
Most matcha lattes in New York are made from culinary grade powder, which is grown for baking and tastes like it: flat, bitter, a little dusty, and needing a great deal of syrup to become drinkable. We use ceremonial grade, and we do not add anything to it unless you ask.
What ceremonial grade actually means
Ceremonial grade comes from the youngest leaves of the first spring harvest, shade-grown for several weeks before picking. The shade slows the plant down and raises its amino acid content — which is why good matcha tastes sweet and full rather than sharp and green. The leaves are stone-milled into a powder fine enough to feel like silk between your fingers.
You can see the difference before you taste it. Ceremonial matcha is a deep, almost luminous green. Culinary grade is duller, closer to olive.
How we prepare it
Whisked to order, never pre-mixed and never poured from a jug that has been sitting. Water just off the boil is too hot for matcha and turns it bitter, so we let it settle first. Then it is whisked until the surface holds a fine, even foam, and served in a matte navy bowl.
Hot Matcha Latte — whisked matcha, steamed milk, twelve ounces.
Iced Matcha Latte — whisked matcha over ice, sixteen ounces.
Milk options: whole, skim, oat or almond. Oat is the one we would pick if you want the matcha to stay in the foreground.
Why people drink it instead of coffee
Matcha contains caffeine, but alongside L-theanine, an amino acid that moderates how quickly that caffeine reaches you. Where an espresso arrives fast and leaves fast, matcha tends to come on gradually and hold longer, without the same edge. This is why it has become the standard afternoon drink for people who still want to sleep that night.
It is also, simply, a different kind of pleasure — vegetal, faintly sweet, closer to a good broth than to tea as most people know it.
Find us
Krasivo Beauty Cafe, 223 East 80th Street, Upper East Side, New York, NY 10075 — one block from the 77 St subway station. Matcha is on the menu every day, hot and iced.