How Matcha Leaves are Processed

The excellence continues…

In our previous article, we looked at all the ways tea plants destined to become matcha are grown. Things including elevation, rainfall, and shading all contribute to yielding tea plants that stand out in their excellence from other tea plants and thus eventually become matcha powder.

Today we will continue looking at matcha's journey from leaf to powder by seeing how matcha leaves are then processed. The way matcha is processed certainly makes matcha stand out again from its tea cousins, too. No other type of tea is ground into a powder! But how does matcha go from a whole leaf to a powder exactly?

 

Just a quick recap!

If you are eager to learn how matcha plants are grown, please take a gander at our previous article, otherwise here's just a very quick rundown.

• Tea plants enjoy elevation, lots of rain, lots of shade, and soil that is full of nutrients but also porous enough they don't drown!
• Tea plants that are fated to produce the leaves that will be turned into matcha are shaded for a long period before plucking.
• The shading helps to enhance matcha's flavors by inhibiting photosynthesis.

Now, on to how the leaves are processed!

 

An artisanal mode of processing

Besides a unique growing technique, it is the next few steps which are labor intensive and require a close mindfulness to detail that place matcha on another level of tea excellence.

While tea plants in China and other parts of Asia may be pan-fired, Japanese leaves are almost all steamed. A technique that helps to preserve the nutrients, color, and some of the grassier flavor and aroma palette hints and notes that may be lost or altered when pan-fired. Steaming also ceases the breakdown and oxidization of the leaves. This step of the matcha processing journey lasts for about 20 seconds.

Soon after the leaves are steamed, they are air dried with a machine. Next, the leaves are painstaking and intricately deveined. By removing all the veins, twigs, and stems from the tea leaves, it will be much easier to grind and pulverize what is now called “Tencha” into a powdered form. Tencha leaves are pulverized by milling stones which grind them into a fine and soft powder. It takes 24 hours to get just one pound of matcha!

Once the matcha has been powdered, it can be packaged and prepared to be shipped and sold. Depending on how the matcha has been graded before the final few steps of the processing journey, the powder may end up in a tea ceremony, in a cafe's latte, or used to make a matcha-flavored confection or baked good of some sort.

 

An intricate journey

By understanding how matcha goes from leaf to powder, we can see how wondrous matcha truly is. But, to get the whole picture, be sure to try some matcha yourself. Why not take a look at our fabulous catalog and find some matcha powder to be featured in your own personal tea ceremony today? Happy whisking!