Introduction
Understanding each step in the process of producing matcha helps to understand how the unique aroma of the tea powder develops but it also helps to understand why matcha is so much more expensive than regular green tea.
High quality matcha requires a sequence of steps: shading, steaming, de-veining and slow grinding. Each of those steps contribute to creating matcha's unique flavour profile and cannot be skipped without affecting the quality, flavour and colour of matcha.
This article walks through that process in order to help you identifiy good quality matcha.
Matcha vs Green Tea
Standard green teas are processed for steeping the leaves in water and removing them after they are done brewing. The leaf is rolled, shaped, dried, and brewed in hot water. The leaf itself is discarded at the end and not consumed.
Matcha uses a different leaf preparation and is turned into what is called tencha. Tencha leaves are laid flat, steamed, de-stemmed and de-veined before they are ground into matcha powder. Tencha leaves are not rolled for structural reasons: rolled and shaped tea leaves can clog the stone mills. The flat, de-veined tencha leaf was developed specifically to work with the grinding process.
How matcha is actually made: the six stages
1. Cultivation and shading
Matcha comes from Camellia sinensis, the same species of tea plant that is used for most green teas. What distinguishes matcha cultivation is what happens in the weeks before harvest.
Around 20 to 40 days before picking, growers cover the plants to block direct sunlight. The effect of shading has one of the biggest impacts on the flavour of matcha. Reduced light slows photosynthesis, this leads to the plant compensating by producing more chlorophyll (which creates the vivid green color).
This process also accumulates L-theanine, an amino acid that gives matcha its characteristic umami depth. Simultaneously, the catechins (a type of tannin responsible for bitterness in regular green tea) become less dominant.
The duration of shading shapes the outcome. Shorter periods (20–25 days) suit mid-grade matcha, while longer shading (35–40 days) is used for the production of high grade, ceremonial-grade flavour.
2. Harvesting
The first flush, called ichibancha, is harvested in spring, typically April through early May in Japan, with some variation in China depending on altitude and climate. This first picking draws on nutrients the plant has stored over winter and produces the most complex leaf chemistry.
Most leaves are picked using mechanical harvesting methods, while one very few farms still hand-pick individual leaves.
3. Steaming
Within hours of picking, the leaves are steamed. The standard duration is 15–20 seconds at around 100°C. Steaming deactivates the enzymes that would otherwise begin breaking down the leaf. In unsteamed tea, those enzymes cause oxidation, which turns the leaf brown and develops the flavors associated with oolong and black tea.
4. Drying
After steaming, the leaves are dried at controlled low temperatures. The goal is to remove moisture evenly without applying too much heat.
The dried leaves at this stage are still whole with stems, veins, and leaf tissue all together.
5. De-stemming and de-veining: creating tencha
The dried leaf is passed through machinery that separates the flat leaf tissue from the stems and veins. What remains is tencha.
Tencha is the only leaf material that should enter a matcha mill. It is lighter, softer, and grinds cleanly. Including stems or veins leads to a more bitter overall flavour and a more grainy overall texture.
High-quality tencha is sometimes stored refrigerated for weeks or months before grinding. This rest period allows the flavor to develop and mature before the final milling.
6. Stone-grinding
A traditional granite stone mill will grind the tencha at low speed to avoid friction which in turn generated heat. Heat above roughly 40°C degrades both the chlorophyll that holds the color and the aromatics that carry the flavour.
A single stone mill produces around 30–40 grams of matcha per hour which is enough for roughly one tin of matcha. Modern tools and machines can grind the powder at higher speed but produce heat in the process. This leads to more bitter-tasting matcha powder.
What to look for once you understand the process
Understanding how matcha is made gives you a practical framework for evaluating the quality of the matcha you want to buy. Three indicators that reflect the process directly:
1. Color A vivid, saturated green is the direct result of shading. Yellowing or browning indicates inadequate shading, over-oxidation, age, or application of heat during processing. Matcha's green colour is not purely aesthetics but a quality indicator.
2. Texture Rub a small amount between your fingers. High-quality matcha ground to 5–10 microns feels silky and smooth. Gritty texture indicates coarser grinding, older stones, or lower-quality tencha including stems.
3. Terms to look out for When buying matcha, look out for terms like "stone-milled", "shade-grown" and "first harvest". These terms indicate how the matcha has been grown and processed and tell you more about the quality of matcha than marketing terms like "premium matcha" or "ceremonial grade".
Try Our Range of Matchas
If you want to try a high quality matcha that was grown and processed following the best practices, take a look at our Silk Leaf Matcha or our Fresh Green Matcha.
More Cha donates 50 cents from every product sold to Stiftung Bildung, a German foundation that funds educational projects.