It is difficult to tell the true from the false of matcha-flavored food. Four tricks teach you how to taste real matcha.

In recent years, matcha-flavored food has become increasingly popular, with matcha-flavored biscuits all over the shelves in supermarkets and exquisite matcha mousse in cake shops that make sweet foodies move their index fingers. However, experts warn that many matcha foods on the market actually add only green tea powder, not only that, in order to ensure taste and color, businesses also add flavors and pigments. Although matcha and green tea powder are made from green tea, their production processes and processes are very different.

Li Yinong, a senior tea artist, said that this is because some businesses directly sell green tea powder as matcha. Matcha and green tea powder are made of green tea, but they are not the same concept. Matcha generally refers to green tea grinding powder particles, matcha is first of all life taste tea, can also be used as food raw materials. Green tea powder is mostly used in food raw materials.

"the price of authentic matcha is several times or even dozens of times higher than that of green tea powder. The price of authentic matcha in the market is usually around 1000 yuan / jin. The traditional production process of matcha requires the use of grinding technology, specific varieties of green tea need to be ground into ultra-fine powder, and then steam sterilization. It's not surprising that a better variety sells for 5000 yuan. The process of ordinary green tea powder is very simple, its raw materials are basically ordinary fried green, using the instantaneous crushing method of a metal crusher, the particles are much thicker than matcha, and the price ranges from dozens of yuan to several hundred yuan per jin. " Introduced by Li Yinong.

There are no specific regulations on matcha standards in China, and there is no quality classification of matcha powder in China. "at present, there is no corresponding national standard for matcha. Various manufacturers produce according to their own enterprise standards and distinguish the good from the bad by particle size. The finer the particles, the better the quality."

Whether it is green tea powder or matcha, it is very easy to oxidize when it is added as a food. after oxidation, it will appear yellow, and the aroma will fade. In order to ensure the taste and color of food, many merchants may add pigments in the production process. In the process of food processing, the color protection can be carried out by adding vitamins and other processes to prolong the natural oxidation process of green tea powder or matcha, but even if the color protection process is carried out, the time of antioxidation is very limited. In recent years, with the popularity of matcha, the proportion of matcha products has increased rapidly. If you see cakes, candies or drinks with particularly bright colors, emerald green or strong aroma, pigments and flavors are likely to be added, and consumers should be careful to buy them.

How to distinguish matcha from green tea powder

1. Color: matcha is dark green or dark green, green tea powder is grass green.

two。 Taste: matcha is not astringent and less bitter, while green tea powder is slightly bitter.

3. Aroma: matcha shows the aroma of seaweed and zongye, while green tea powder is grassy.

4. Fineness: matcha fineness up to 2 microns, smeared on the back of the hand can all enter the pores. Green tea powder is much thicker than matcha and has a strong sense of friction on the back of the hand.

Beijing Times 2014-10-23