“Do I need ceremonial matcha for lattes?”
It’s one of the questions we get asked most.
The answer is slightly more complicated than a simple yes or no.
The term ceremonial grade isn’t an official Japanese grading system. It’s a term that has largely been adopted by the Western tea market to describe high-quality matcha that is suitable for drinking traditionally with water.
That doesn’t mean the term is meaningless.
But it does mean you shouldn’t buy a matcha purely because someone has written “ceremonial” on the front of the tin.
A good ceremonial matcha should taste beautifully balanced when whisked with water. You’re looking for sweetness, umami, freshness and very controlled bitterness.
That’s wonderful.
But put that same matcha into a large latte with 250ml of milk and some of those delicate characteristics can disappear.
For cafés, the more important question is:
What are you actually making?
If you’re serving traditional matcha as well as matcha lattes, then using a genuinely high-quality ceremonial matcha makes a lot of sense.
You have one product capable of doing both.
If your business is mainly selling high-volume flavoured matcha lattes, you may decide that using your most expensive and delicate matcha in every drink simply doesn’t make commercial sense.
But there is a problem at the other end of the scale too.
Go too cheap and you can end up with a matcha that tastes harsh, bitter and flat.
Then the temptation is to add more sugar or syrup to hide it.
For me, the sweet spot for a speciality café is a genuinely good Japanese matcha that tastes excellent with water but still has enough body and character to come through milk.
That’s generally where I would start.
At Jeeves & Jericho, we offer different approaches because not every café has the same customer or the same style of menu.
Some want a pure ceremonial matcha that can be served traditionally as well as in lattes.
Others want something specifically chosen for easy, consistent café service.
Neither is automatically right or wrong.
The key is understanding what you’re actually putting on the menu.
If you’re advertising:
Ceremonial Japanese Matcha
then use a product that genuinely deserves that description.
If you’re serving something like:
Vanilla Strawberry Matcha Latte
then using your rarest and most delicate matcha may not be the best use of it.
There is room for both.
The mistake is assuming they are exactly the same thing.