Matcha
Finely ground, shade-grown Japanese green tea.
Matcha is a powdered green tea made from shade-grown Japanese tencha leaves, slowly stone-ground into a fine, bright-green powder. Unlike steeped tea, matcha is whisked into water and consumed whole — leaf and all — which gives it dramatically higher concentrations of caffeine, L-theanine, and antioxidants than ordinary green tea. The full origin chain: Camellia sinensis plant → shaded for 2–4 weeks → harvested → steamed → dried → de-stemmed (now tencha) → stone-ground → matcha.
Related terms
Tencha
The shade-grown, dried tea leaves that become matcha.
Usucha
Thin matcha — the everyday whisked bowl.
Koicha
Thick matcha — concentrated, ceremonial-grade only.
L-theanine
The amino acid responsible for matcha's calm-focus effect.
EGCG
The most-studied antioxidant in matcha.