Knowledge Structures
Knowledge structures are the scaffolding where we interpret new information, make judgments, and learn to ask questions. Most of us enter the world of matcha with some frameworks handy: the difference between green and black tea, the ceremonial connections to Japan, and that it requires special equipment to prepare. But try discussing matcha with a three-year-old and you probably won’t get far! They have limited knowledge structure and would probably only be able to notice matcha’s bright green color. However, try discussing single-origin or single-cultivar matcha with a tea master and the tables might be turned.
How much information is necessary to fully learn and appreciate something? How do most new matcha consumers construct their own knowledge structures?
Observational learning
Watch and learn! This is the primary teaching philosophy when you study Japanese Tea Ceremony formally; top-down instruction and information by osmosis. You won’t find a textbook detailing everything you need to know when you study Japanese Tea Ceremony. Information is given to you by your teacher as they see fit. You are not formally permitted to teach others until you reach a certain license, which typically takes years. There’s tremendous importance placed on what you’re permitted to know and learn, and when.
Few new matcha consumers have the desire or luxury of taking Japanese Tea Ceremony classes. Before the internet it was incredibly difficult to learn about the subject at all, especially away from an major urban center. Fortunately for new consumers, everything has changed.
Modern Versions of the twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety: Guo Zhu Isoda Koryūsai Japanese ca. 1770
YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram are now almost unquestionably the main medium of matcha knowledge and distribution, which takes observational learning to its most enjoyable extreme: short, digestible soundbites and videos that prioritize engagement and entertainment. No more long hours sitting in seiza; we can passively engage in observation learning through our algorithmic feeds.
How is matcha whisked? What do I need to prepare it? How do I get great foam and no clumps?
This is a double-edge sword. Many new consumers don’t have the knowledge structures in place to question information and make judgements—there’s no deliberate learning. A mix of commercial motivation and flat out misinformation plague online tea communities. Cancer-curing miracle weight-loss superfood anyone? On the other side, there are some real gems! Some fantastically knowledgable people produce tea content at a scale few could have imagined 30 years ago, sharing information that was scarcely available. These creators such as Ooika, Kettl, Tezumi, My Japanese Green Tea, The Tea Crane, among many others are particularly good at structuring concepts that can be generalized to better understand matcha.
Structuring knowledge
Developing knowledge structures is standing on the shoulders of giants. Prior knowledge can be pre-structured in theories, cause and effect relationships, and classifications from which we can generalize. We can pull knowledge structures from history, biology, chemistry, agriculture, and even viniculture to better understand and appreciate matcha. Shared knowledge structures are paramount to a rich and thriving specialty market.
The following knowledge structures are particularly useful in matcha:
- The concept of terroir: the taste of the land
- Tea processing: how tea is transformed from a leaf on a bush to your cup
- Cultivars: cultivated tea varieties
- Tea quality: factors that are predictive of quality such as harvest season, harvest method, farming practices, shade duration, freshness, blending skill, and milling method
- Chemical compounds: found in tea and their effects
- Tea history: matcha’s origin story
- Chanoyu: Japanese Tea Ceremony
- Zen Buddhism: the spirit of tea ceremony
- Japanese aesthetic and philosophical principles: such as the importance of seasonality, wabi-sabi, ichi go ichi e, and wa kei sei jaku
- Tea dogu: traditional tea preparation equipment
- Brew theory: how flavors get expressed when a leaf (or powder) meets hot water
Experimental and empirical
The creation of new knowledge structures changes the way people think about and approach their learning journey with matcha. New discoveries add to the collective body of knowledge and its structure for future specialty matcha consumers.
It would be exciting to see more research on preference for different matcha flavor based on cultural differences, matcha and the microbiome, and preparation automation.
There have been some exciting developments in specialty coffee where entirely new companies started specifically to optimize water chemistry for home brewers. Third Wave Water conducted many empirical tests which were informed by their knowledge about brew theory. In particular, they’ve optimized water chemistry for different roast profiles and brew methods. They have created new knowledge structures linking water chemistry to extraction to flavor to preference. It would be incredible to have this for matcha.
There’s a whole new world ready to be discovered. Existing theories and knowledge structures can be used to design experiments and test hypotheses. As we learn more about matcha, new questions will surely arise which may lead to new knowledge structures to make matcha better for everyone.
Our team recorded a podcast about knowledge structures, links below.
