How Is Matcha Made? From Tea Plant to Powder

Most people know matcha as a green powder that goes into lattes. Very few know what actually goes into making it, and why the production process is what separates a genuinely good matcha from the commodity powder filling most supermarket shelves.

It starts with the plant

Matcha comes from Camellia sinensis, the same plant that produces all tea — your morning chai, Earl Grey, oolong, all of it. What makes matcha different is not the plant but how it is grown, harvested, and processed. The cultivar matters enormously. Different cultivars produce different flavour profiles, different levels of L-Theanine and EGCG, and different yields. If a brand cannot tell you which cultivar their matcha comes from, that is worth paying attention to.

Shade growing

Three to four weeks before harvest, the tea plants are covered to block direct sunlight. Traditionally straw mats were used. Today most producers use shade netting, though some premium producers still use traditional materials.

This is the most important step in the entire process. Deprived of sunlight, the plant produces more chlorophyll, which deepens the colour, and more L-Theanine, the amino acid responsible for matcha's calm focused energy. Growth slows, which concentrates flavour and nutrients in the leaf. The longer the shade period, the higher the quality of the resulting matcha — and the higher the cost of production.

Harvest

Matcha uses only the youngest, most tender leaves — typically the top two to three leaves of each shoot, harvested in the first flush of the season, usually April to May in Japan. First flush is the most prized because the leaves are the most nutrient-dense and flavourful.

In quality matcha production, leaves are still hand-picked. This allows pickers to select only the best leaves and avoid stems. Industrial production uses machine harvesting, which is faster and cheaper but significantly less precise.

Steaming and drying

Immediately after harvest the leaves are steamed to stop oxidation — the same process that would turn green tea into black tea if left to proceed. This locks in the green colour and fresh flavour. After steaming the leaves are carefully dried to preserve the volatile compounds that give matcha its character.

De-stemming and sorting — creating tencha

Once dried, the leaves go through a de-stemming and sorting process. Stems and leaf veins are removed, leaving only the pure leaf tissue. This is called tencha, and it is the direct precursor to matcha. Not all green tea powder is made from tencha. Cheaper products are sometimes made from ground green tea that has not gone through this process, which produces a coarser, more bitter powder.

Milling

Tencha is then milled into the fine powder we know as matcha. Traditional production uses granite stone mills, which grind slowly at low temperatures to preserve the delicate compounds in the leaf. A single stone mill produces only about 30 to 40g of matcha per hour.

Industrial production uses mechanical milling, which is faster but generates heat that degrades both the flavour and the nutritional profile of the finished product. Our matcha is micro-milled — a fine, consistent process that produces a smooth powder that dissolves completely with no grainy residue.

Why the process determines the price

Every step adds cost. Shade structures, hand-picking, careful drying, de-stemming, slow milling. When you buy cheap matcha, one or more of these steps has been cut. The leaves are lower grade, the shade period shorter, the milling faster and hotter.

The difference shows up immediately in colour, texture, and taste. Good matcha is deep jade green, dissolves completely, and tastes smooth and slightly sweet. Cheap matcha is yellowish-green, leaves residue, and tastes bitter. The process is the product.