Q&A: Koicha and Usucha

Have you heard of these terms before, "koicha" and "usucha"? These terms can refer to different grades of matcha powder and can also be considered different styles of brewed matcha. Regarding the latter, koicha is a type of brewed matcha that is basically a matcha paste while usucha is more watery. Koicha generally uses more matcha powder and less water, usucha uses less matcha the koicha and more water. Usucha is the type of matcha most people are probably familiar (that is, other then those who think "matcha" simply refers to matcha lattes and sweets.)
A rule of thumb: matcha designed to make koicha can also be used to make usucha, but matcha designed to make usucha might make for a bitter koicha!