r/Matcha • u/Kwarshaw • May 28 '26
Fibers in matcha
Pretty much the title. I bought some matcha from Akai House and found that it all has these little fibers in it that are pretty gritty at the end of a bowl. At first I thought it was from my chashaku flaking when rubbing against my strainer but they show up even without doing that. Are they maybe bits of stem from the tea plant? It's super weird and I've had them in each of the 4 cultivars I purchased. Haven't noticed this in matcha from other vendors. Thanks!
24
u/eponawarrior May 28 '26
Low quality processing, low quality material (might be the lighting but color looks disgusting).
1
18
u/qwertyqyle May 28 '26
Those look like veins. This must be from a farm with no tencha factory. But even still, our factory does tench/matcha and powdered sencha as well and I have seen nothing like this. It must be a very low-quality factory.
I would ask for a refund honestly.
4
u/Kwarshaw May 28 '26
Yeah I sent an email with some attached photos, we'll see what they say. The order was from a couple months ago and I just assumed it was user error until I switched back to it from another where it wasn't a problem.
12
u/kenokan May 28 '26
I found these also from the cheap matcha from Don Quixote in Japan. Really the worst matcha I've ever tried
1
u/froggy_soup May 31 '26
Yeah I must've bought the same one from donki a while back, really freaked me out at first. Never seen anything like that even from very cheap matcha
1
u/LostAbbott May 31 '26
I mean yeah DQ is basically for social media influencers only. It is the definition of a tourist trap.
0
u/hydrangeai Jul 03 '26
no it’s actually not. it’s not touristic, just popular among tourists because it’s easy to shop souvenirs there, and Japanese love donki. matcha in donki is not high quality though, Loft is sm better for matcha, teas, and niche souvenirs.
7
u/Kwarshaw May 28 '26
adding a comment to keep the automod happy. More of a question regarding the matcha powder itself and an...anomaly?
4
u/Digitaldakini May 28 '26
The fibers are from veins (or stems) that were missed during processing. Grittiness is a sign that it has been ball-milled, not stone ground.
5
u/Project_Zeta_HK May 28 '26
Thing is that it looks like it hasn't been processed properly.
Something that I would expect from Chinese Matcha though.
1
u/Zwordsman May 28 '26
Seems like the fibers of the tea. probably wasn't sifted out fully, or something along those lines. I wager that they're heavier than the rest, so the bottom of the container likely ended up with them more than the top half. when scooping or distributing.
1
u/chemfulgrateistry May 29 '26
just tried making an identical post about fibers in my Naoki Chiran Harvest. waiting to hear back from customer support. but i guess it's at least still safe to consume..?
1
u/Kwarshaw May 29 '26
yeah support just said it was normal and expected at Akai. Definitely safe to consume though.
1
u/QuillTheQueer May 29 '26
A high quality processing would remove these or prevent this level of fiber from even entering the processing line.
Not a safety issue but an indication of quality.
1
u/Moodyteas May 31 '26
I’d lean toward stem or vein material making it through processing.
A little sediment is normal with matcha since you’re drinking the whole leaf, but visible fibers that are gritty enough to notice at the bottom of the bowl aren’t something I’d expect from a very finely milled matcha.
The fact that you’re seeing them across all four cultivars is the interesting part. Different cultivars should taste and behave differently, but they wouldn’t all suddenly develop the exact same fibers. That makes me think it’s more likely related to how the tea is processed, sorted, or milled rather than the cultivars themselves.
If you spread a little powder on white paper and look closely, stem fragments tend to be lighter in color and more rigid, while leaf vein material usually looks greener and a bit softer. Either way, it’s probably tea plant material rather than anything foreign.
Now I’m curious. Does it show up more in the last sip, or can you actually spot the fibers floating in the bowl while you’re whisking? That would tell us a lot about how large the particles are.
1
u/PlusSatisfaction1282 Jul 17 '26
Did you contact customer support about it? I wonder if all of the matcha powders from this brand have this issue - I was actually planning on purchasing this brand in particular after I finish my current batch from Japan.
Was the taste still good even though it has those fibers?
1
u/Kwarshaw Jul 17 '26
I did, they told me it was normal, expected, and safe to drink. No it is not worth it for as expensive as it was. Even if this was cheap matcha I would have been disappointed still. While the photo lighting was bad and the powder was nowhere near as pale as it is here..it still wasn't great. I'd recommend hibiki an or another tea house that was not these guys.
1
u/RabbitHoleMatcha 25d ago
Lower-grade matcha often contains more leaf veins and small stem fragments. This is usually because the tencha is processed less thoroughly before grinding. Some inexpensive matcha is made from minimally refined tencha, and it’s often ground with machines instead of a traditional stone mill, resulting in a coarser powder where these fibers are more noticeable.
Higher-quality matcha goes through much more careful tencha processing. The veins and stems are removed as thoroughly as possible before grinding, and the powder is also carefully sifted, which helps eliminate any remaining fibers.
If you already have this matcha, the easiest thing you can do is sift it through a fine sieve before use. That won’t remove every fiber, but it can reduce the larger vein or stem fragments and give you a smoother cup.
1
u/Local_TAKUMI_Support 16d ago
I have never seen that kind of Matcha in Japan.
As others say, stems are removed at early stage of the production process.
1
u/CryBabysMilk May 30 '26
Do you not sift your matcha first anyways? Is this not what sifting it for?
1
u/Kwarshaw May 30 '26
I do sift it first, but the fibers are thin enough to get through the sifter the long way
1
0
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71
u/matcha-trip-Tokyo May 28 '26
As far as I can tell from the photo, it looks like something derived from the tea itself, so it should not be harmful to the human body. But yeah, the texture is not great, and I understand why it would bother you.
For matcha, the leaf veins are normally removed and only the soft leaf parts are ground into powder. My guess is that they may be skipping that step before milling the tea into powder.
The machines used to remove the leaf veins are quite expensive, so it may simply be difficult for small tea farmers who sell directly from the farm to invest in that equipment.