Why Matcha?

Matcha is often described as powdered green tea. That’s technically true, but it leaves out the part that makes matcha different.

According to Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, traditional matcha begins with tea leaves grown under shade. The reduced sunlight changes what develops inside the leaf. Theanine, an amino acid associated with umami, is preserved at higher levels, while the formation of some bitter catechins is reduced. 

After harvesting, the leaves are steamed and dried without being rolled. The stems and larger leaf veins are removed, leaving tencha. Tencha is then finely ground to become matcha. 

That matters because matcha was never supposed to be simply any green tea leaf turned into powder.

Shading changes the chemistry of the growing leaf.

Matcha remains a concentrated source of tea compounds because you consume the powdered leaf itself rather than steeping the leaves and removing them. 

So what makes good matcha worth it?

The quality of the leaf and what happened to it before it became powder.

The leaves were grown with matcha production in mind. Their exposure to sunlight was controlled. Their chemistry developed differently. They were processed into tencha rather than ordinary rolled green tea, refined, and finely milled.

Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture describes tencha itself as having low astringency and strong umami, with matcha produced by grinding that tencha. 

That is a much better definition of quality than saying “ceremonial.”

And once you understand that, the colour, aroma, texture and taste start making a lot more sense.

That’s why matcha.