Nearly every bowl of matcha made outside Japan is usucha, thin tea, whether or not the person making it knows the word. There is a second traditional preparation, koicha or thick tea, which uses roughly double the powder in half the water and produces something closer to a warm glossy paste than a drink. In the tea ceremony koicha is the serious one and usucha the relaxed conclusion, nearly the opposite of how most people abroad meet matcha.
The two are not the same drink at different strengths. They differ in ratio, technique, and the grade of powder they demand. This guide covers both, and is honest that koicha is unforgiving and not something to attempt with the tin in most kitchen cupboards.
What each one actually is
Usucha means thin tea. It uses roughly 1.5 to 2 grams of matcha to about 60 to 70 ml of water, whisked briskly until a fine even foam covers the surface. The result is light and pleasantly bright. It is the everyday preparation, the base of every latte and iced drink, and the one worth learning first.
Koicha means thick tea. It uses roughly 4 grams to about 30 ml of water, double the powder in half the liquid, and is not whisked to a foam. It is worked slowly into a glossy, opaque paste with the consistency of thin honey, and sipped rather than drunk. The flavour is intense and thick on the tongue, deeply sweet and umami-rich when the powder is good and punishing when it is not. In a formal gathering koicha comes first, traditionally shared from a single bowl passed between guests, and usucha follows in individual bowls as the lighter close.
- Usucha: about 1.5 to 2 g to 60 to 70 ml, whisked to a fine foam.
- Koicha: about 4 g to 30 ml, kneaded to a glossy paste, no foam.
- Usucha is drunk in a few mouthfuls; koicha is sipped slowly.
- In the ceremony, koicha comes first and usucha closes.
Whisking versus kneading
The technique difference is larger than the ratio difference, and it is where most first attempts at koicha go wrong. Usucha is aerated: you whisk fast and light in a straight back-and-forth W or M motion near the surface, for fifteen to thirty seconds, until foam builds.
Koicha is the opposite. There is far too little water to whisk, and chasing foam just leaves a stiff lump climbing the whisk. Instead you knead, pressing and folding with slow strokes, pushing the whisk through the mass rather than skating across the surface, until the texture turns uniform and glossy with no dry pockets. It takes patience rather than speed, and foam is a sign you did it wrong.
Adding the water in stages helps enormously. Pour a little onto the sifted powder, work it into a thick smooth paste with no lumps, then add the rest gradually while kneading. Sifting is not optional here, since a lump that survives into a paste that thick will never break up. Water temperature is slightly cooler than for usucha rather than hotter, which surprises people: with that much powder in so little water, heat pulls out bitterness fast and a concentrated bowl has nowhere to hide it.
Koicha demands a much better powder
This is worth taking seriously before spending money. Usucha is forgiving, and a decent everyday grade whisked thin is enjoyable, with any roughness diluted by water or hidden by milk. Koicha offers no such mercy: you concentrate the same leaf into a fraction of the liquid, which concentrates its faults in the same proportion.
Traditional koicha powders come from the highest tiers: first harvest leaf, often from old tea bushes, frequently a single named cultivar, and priced accordingly. Producers commonly say which of their tins suit koicha, and that is worth following rather than testing. A mid-range matcha prepared as koicha does not taste like a stronger version of itself; it tastes aggressively bitter, and teaches you nothing except that you used the wrong powder. Koicha is therefore the most expensive way to drink matcha per bowl, taking double the powder at several times the price per gram.
- Usucha: an everyday or premium grade is perfectly good.
- Koicha: a top ceremonial grade, ideally one named for koicha.
- Double the powder plus a pricier grade makes koicha costly per bowl.
- Cheap powder as koicha tastes harsh and teaches you nothing.
Strength, caffeine, and how much you drink
A koicha bowl uses roughly double the powder of a usucha bowl, so it carries roughly double the caffeine. If a thin bowl made with 2 grams sits around 35 to 70 mg as a rough estimate, a 4 gram koicha lands near twice that. These are ballpark figures rather than measured doses, and none of this is medical advice.
In practice the volume works against the intensity, since koicha is a small quantity sipped slowly rather than something anyone drinks three of before lunch, and someone working through several thin bowls across a day may take in more overall. The caution is simply that the strength is not only in the flavour, so if you are sensitive to caffeine, a koicha bowl is not the equivalent of a thin one.
Should you try koicha at home?
Try it if you already enjoy plain usucha, own a chasen sturdy enough to knead with, and will buy a tin suited to it. It is a genuinely memorable experience, and it explains why matcha is treated with the reverence it is. Skip it if you mostly drink lattes, if your tin is a mid-range grade, or if you are still learning to get a smooth thin bowl. Most matcha drinkers drink usucha almost exclusively.
If you do try it, start slightly thinner than the traditional ratio, since you can always thicken the next one. The numbers here are starting points rather than rules. The ratio calculator handles the arithmetic for any grams and volume you try, and logging what you liked in the journal turns experiments into a preference you can repeat. Because koicha eats through a tin quickly, tracking grams remaining and cost per bowl in the tin cellar is worth doing before committing to an expensive powder; that inventory tracking is one of the premium features.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between usucha and koicha?
Usucha is thin tea, about 1.5 to 2 g of matcha to 60 to 70 ml of water, whisked to a light foam. Koicha is thick tea, about 4 g to 30 ml, kneaded slowly into a glossy paste with no foam and sipped rather than drunk.
Can I make koicha with my normal matcha?
You can, but it will probably taste harsh. Koicha concentrates the powder into very little water, which concentrates its flaws too, so it needs a top ceremonial grade. An everyday grade prepared as koicha tastes bitter and astringent rather than simply stronger.
Why does koicha not have foam?
Because it is not whisked to aerate. There is too little water for foam, so it is kneaded with slow pressing strokes until smooth and glossy. Foam on koicha usually means it was whisked like thin tea by mistake.
Does koicha have more caffeine than usucha?
Per bowl, yes, roughly double, since it uses double the powder. These are rough estimates rather than measured doses and are not medical advice. In practice koicha is a small serving sipped slowly, so a day of several thin bowls can add up to more.
Which should a beginner learn first?
Usucha, without question. It is forgiving, it works with an affordable grade, and every latte and iced drink is built on the same technique. Koicha is worth trying once you enjoy plain thin bowls and are ready to buy a powder made for it.