The 7am Ritual: matcha in seven quiet steps

When I lived in Bangkok, the best part of my day was 7am in a quiet café. The city was still waking up, the light came in sideways through the window, and for a few minutes nothing was asking anything of me.

The 7am Ritual is my way of bringing that feeling home. It is not a tea ceremony. It is seven small steps that turn making matcha into a few calm minutes before the day begins.

You will need

• 2 g of matcha (about one heaped bamboo scoop or a level teaspoon)
• About 70 ml of hot water, cooled to around 80°C
• A bowl, a small sieve and a bamboo whisk (a small milk frother also works)

The seven steps

1. Open the window. Take three slow breaths of morning air.
2. Boil the water. While it heats, do nothing at all. No phone.
3. Warm the bowl. Pour in a little hot water, feel the warmth in your palms, then empty it.
4. Sift the matcha. Push it through the sieve into the bowl. Listen to it fall.
5. Pour. Add about 70 ml of water at around 80°C. Boiling water makes matcha taste harsh.
6. Whisk. Move the whisk quickly back and forth in an M or W shape for about fifteen seconds, until the surface is covered in fine foam.
7. Sip slowly. Hold the bowl in both hands, breathe in the aroma, and drink it in small sips before you look at anything else.

Why seven minutes

Seven minutes is short enough to fit into any morning, and long enough to notice the light, the sound of the whisk and the taste of the tea. Do it at 7am, or whenever your morning begins. The point is that the first minutes of the day are yours.

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