What Is Matcha?
by Hannah Colley
What Is Matcha?
We like to think of matcha as the Champagne of green tea. Akin to how Champagne is treated in France, matcha can only be truly considered "matcha" as opposed to "powdered green tea" if it comes from Japan. There are two reasons for this, looking at the historical journey of matcha and its terroir. Matcha is the only tea to be used in Japan's iconic cha-no-yu (tea ceremony), so there is a long tradition of reverence around the tea. In turn, matcha is a highly specialised type of tea to grow.
One can only taste matcha's true character and revered flavour if it was grown in Japan — variables like the ideal climate for growing matcha, highly nutritious volcanic soil, and specific tea plant cultivars all play a part in matcha's unique umami taste.
Matcha is one of the only teas that is powdered. Differing from regular green tea leaves, which are intended to be steeped, the leaves for matcha are shade-grown (which increases the nutrition content in the leaves) and subsequently stone-milled if it's high quality. Quality mills will grind matcha to 1 micron. Therefore, instead of steeping leaves and throwing them away, they drink 100% ground tea leaves when one drinks matcha!
Because matcha is a powdered green tea, the goal is to aerate the powder into a beautiful creamy foam, either using a traditional whisk or to shake the powder.