Matcha glossary
Every word you'll see on a matcha tin, in a tea ceremony video, or in a recipe — defined in plain English. Click any term for the full breakdown.
By topic
Matcha vocabulary clusters into a few groups: tools, tea types, preparation styles, chemistry, and ceramics. Below is a quick map; full alphabetical list follows.
Tea types & grades
Matcha, Tencha, Gyokuro, Sencha, Kabusecha, Shincha, Ceremonial grade, Premium grade, Culinary grade
Chemistry & flavor
Bamboo for chasen
A–Z
All 27 terms, alphabetical.
- C
Catechins
The antioxidant compounds responsible for tea's health-related effects.
- C
Ceremonial-grade matcha
The highest grade — smooth, sweet, made to be drunk plain.
- C
Chanoyu
The Japanese tea ceremony — formal preparation of matcha as ritual.
- C
Chasen
The bamboo whisk used to froth matcha.
- C
Chashaku
The bamboo scoop used to measure matcha.
- C
Chawan
The wide ceramic bowl used for whisking matcha.
- C
Culinary-grade matcha
Matcha designed to survive heat, milk, and sugar.
- E
EGCG
The most-studied antioxidant in matcha.
- G
Gyokuro
Premium shaded Japanese green tea — close cousin to matcha.
- I
Ishi-usu
The traditional granite stone mill used to grind tencha into matcha.
- K
Kabusecha
Partially shaded Japanese green tea — between sencha and gyokuro.
- K
Kintsugi
The Japanese art of mending broken ceramics with gold-dusted lacquer.
- K
Kodai
The unglazed foot ring at the bottom of a chawan.
- K
Koicha
Thick matcha — concentrated, ceremonial-grade only.
- K
Kurodake
Black bamboo — used for premium, longer-lasting chasen.
- K
Kusenaoshi
The ceramic stand that holds a chasen between uses.
- L
L-theanine
The amino acid responsible for matcha's calm-focus effect.
- M
Matcha
Finely ground, shade-grown Japanese green tea.
- P
Premium-grade matcha
The everyday tier between ceremonial and culinary.
- S
Sencha
The most common Japanese green tea — sun-grown, steeped, not powdered.
- S
Shichiku
Purple bamboo — rare and premium.
- S
Shincha
The first harvest of the year — typically the most prized.
- S
Susudake
White bamboo — the most common material for chasen.
- T
Tencha
The shade-grown, dried tea leaves that become matcha.
- T
Tetsubin
A traditional Japanese cast-iron kettle for heating water.
- U
Umami
The savory "fifth taste" — matcha's defining flavor note.
- U
Usucha
Thin matcha — the everyday whisked bowl.