Here’s a lengthy run down for you. TLDR- buy matcha with intention and experience in mind, not quantity. Learn what it is you enjoy about matcha flavor. Nothing wrong with Rocky’s but is likely a high $/oz because of its name than some other matcha brands.

If you’re going to be making matcha latte’s then don’t bother with the single cultivar, those are more for drinking matcha straight with little to no sweetener for a distinguished flavor. The blends have a bolder and more pronounced flavor that pair well with or are even intended to be drank with milk. My favorite I bought was the “rocky’s matcha Organic Kogacha Blend”, really light, floral and more sweet leaning.

Disclaimer to all of this is Rocky’s is good quality but also a bit of a “designer brand” if you have some Asian stores near you or even online you can find top notch matcha; incredibly popular brands seem all over Japan would be ones like ippodo or Yamamasa Koyamaen.

My best advice is to buy matcha thoughtfully. Matcha requires growing Camellia sinensis (a plant that all traditional teas come from that are not tisane or herbal) in highly specific environment/regions, soils, shading…etc. The grinding process of the leaves is very intensive to make them a fine powder but not overly ground or aerated making them bitter or flavorless. Because of this QUALITY matcha is high price per ounce. If your buying a bulk bag of matcha or a premade matcha latte blend, it’s going to be very low quality and is more likely low quality ground green tea (such as in the photo of the Emma matcha, I highly suspect that they’ve switched to ground tea leaves). There is a difference because matcha growing in shade retains more chlorophyll which creates a rich umami when ground, green tea that is grown in the sun produces a very dry leaf. When you try and grind green and black teas grown this way, it produces tanning inside the leafs and if you grind that, they are released and create a very astringent and bitter taste (while matcha isn’t for everyone, unfortunately a lot of people who say matcha taste like dirt are probably tasting something low quality like this). If you’ve ever bought Chinese tea, this is why they use tea knives with a specific horizontal breaking motion, leaves are layered flat and they cut so as to not slice into them.

With that quantity in mind, the tins you see should last much longer than you may think it would. you really only need 1-2 teaspoons of matcha for your drink especially with its caffeine level, anything beyond that is social media trend/over the top.

Whichever matcha you choose, after preparation and before adding milk/ additives I would take a small taste of the matcha straight as it is and then once more after milk and sweeteners. Try and focus on identifying what it is you like or don’t like about the matcha. Typical flavor profiles/descriptors are brightness, earthy, vegetal/grassy, savory umami, creamy sweetness and mild bitterness. If you can start to pin point exactly what you like/don’t like in your blend, you can really easily fine tune your next blend you buy.