I first heard of this little wonder when I attended Cynthia Gold’s workshop “Making a Final Statement – Tea and Dessert Pairing” at WTE. While discussing methods for infusing foods with tea, she showed us a small Matcha Grinder. Her suggestion was that it could be used to grind other teas besides Matcha and the powder mixed into batters, sauces, etc. The thought of grinding other teas fascinated me and when I returned home I set out to find a small domestic Matcha grinder. Cynthia pointed me to Postcard Teas in London, UK. It sells for £47 or approximately $75. Within a week my grinder had arrived. I opened and examined it and then put it away. Something that supplied this much fascination deserved my undivided attention and I hadn’t much of that at the time. This morning though, I finally took it out of the box and decided to give it a whirl.
Approximately 5" high and 2" in diameter, the Matcha grinder has a nice ergonomic feel and is easy to store
My leaf of choice for grinding would be a Ceylon FBOP (Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe) tea from Harrington Estates, Sri Lanka. It has a small leaf that I was confident would grind nicely. I’m not sure how successful a rolled tea such as Gunpowder or Tie Guan Yin would be, but I will give those a try in the future. This time I wanted to experiment with a tea that would look nothing like Matcha after it had been ground. I first put the leaf into a mortar and pestle to break it down into finer pieces.
Left: Harrington Estates FBOP Ceylon leaf. Right: Pre-grinding the leaf with a mortar and pestle
The grinder is quite easy to use. It’s made of green plastic and clear acrylic and has a central steel rod. There are two ceramic plates that grind in opposite directions to pulverize the leaf. The broken leaf is put into the top of the grinder and then the lid and handle are attached. It takes awhile to grind. It’s something you can do while doing another activity that doesn’t involve your hands, such as talking with a friend or watching TV or checking your email. After a few moments you see a very fine powder start to appear in the bottom compartment. It looks like brown dust.
A fine dusty powder is visible after a few minutes of grinding
Fine brown dusty Ceylon "powder" looks a bit like cumin.
The grinder disassembles and is relatively easy to clean. You need a fine brush to get between the ceramic plates.
I will experiment with other teas. Not sure what to try next. Any suggestions? It will be fun to add this Ceylon powder to soups, biscuits or chocolate truffles. Anything goes. With culinary tea it’s all about the experiment. Please share your tea cuisine adventures!
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