Once opened, ceremonial matcha is best within 30 days. Unopened, it's generally good for around 12 months from the manufacture date. After 30 days the matcha is still safe to drink, but the colour, aroma, and flavour all start to fade. By month two or three you'll notice the bright jade green dulling toward olive, the fresh creamy aroma flattening, and the smooth umami giving way to a duller, slightly stale note.

Matcha doesn't go off the way perishable food does. It just loses what made it worth buying. The good news is, slowing the decline is mostly about how you store it.

Why opened matcha fades so fast

Matcha is whole-leaf green tea ground into a fine powder. Once you grind a leaf into powder, you massively increase its surface area, which means oxygen, light, heat, and moisture all hit much more of the leaf at once. Each of these speeds up degradation in a different way.

Oxygen oxidises the chlorophyll, dulling the green colour and dropping the aroma. Light, especially direct sunlight, does the same on a faster timeline. Heat above 20 degrees breaks down the delicate amino acids that give ceremonial matcha its sweetness. Moisture is the worst, because it can clump the powder and trigger spoilage in the right conditions.

How to make your matcha last longer

Seal the can or pouch tightly between uses. The original packaging is designed to limit oxygen exposure. If you've decanted into another container, make sure that container is airtight and opaque.

Store cool, dark, and dry. A cupboard away from the stove or oven is ideal. Avoid storing matcha next to anything that gets warm, vibrates, or radiates heat (the toaster, the kettle, the rice cooker, the dishwasher).

Don't refrigerate an open can. This sounds counterintuitive but moisture from a fridge will condense on the powder every time you take the can out, which is worse for the matcha than just keeping it in the cupboard.

Refrigerating or freezing unopened matcha is fine and can extend shelf life beyond 12 months. Just bring the can to room temperature before opening so condensation doesn't form on the powder when air hits it.

Avoid scooping with a wet spoon. Even a tiny amount of moisture in the can will start to clump the powder and accelerate spoilage. Always use a dry spoon or a bamboo chashaku scoop.

How to tell if your matcha has gone past its best

The colour test. Fresh matcha is vibrant jade green. Old matcha drifts toward dull olive or yellow-brown. If the colour has noticeably shifted, the flavour will have shifted too.

The smell test. Open the can and inhale. Fresh matcha smells fresh and creamy with hints of vanilla, cream, or florals. Old matcha smells flat, hay-like, or slightly musty.

The taste test. Old matcha is duller, less sweet, more astringent, and lacks the velvety body of a fresh batch. It won't make you sick. It just won't be enjoyable.

Teafy's Ceremonial Grade Matcha Powder is held at 0 to 4 degrees Celsius in our Melbourne cold room until your order ships, which means the can arrives at peak freshness with the full 12 months ahead of it. Store it well after opening and you'll get the best out of it.

‍

You might also like:

• How do I store matcha properly?
• Why is my matcha bitter?
• What is ceremonial grade matcha?