Matcha has become an increasingly popular drink in Western coffee shops. I’m sure you’ve been asked by many customers if we serve matcha. While most people might be familiar with the sweet, milky drink served at Starbucks and elsewhere, traditional matcha is quite different both in its preparation and its consumption.

Matcha is a vivid green powder made from a specific type of Japanese green tea called “tencha.” Tencha is normally harvested only once per year (known as “first flush”) in late spring and then stone milled into a fine powder. Since there is only one harvest of tencha per year, most producers refrigerate leaves so that matcha can be produced year-round. That powder is whisked with water into a beverage usually served warm. Matcha is unique among teas both in its preparation and in that we consume the entire tea leaf rather than steeping it.

Tencha is shaded for 3-5 weeks before it is harvested. Shade cover is increased as harvest nears, even up to 90% in some cases. This causes the plant to produce more chlorophyll, L-theanine, and other amino acids that provide both the vivid green color and highly prized umami flavor. The best tencha is hand-picked, but many teas in Japan are machine harvested. After a normal processing for green tea, matcha is made by grinding tencha leaves between stone mills until a fine powder is produced.

There is a great deal of caffeine and L-theanine in matcha; you can expect an energy boost from the caffeine and a calming effect from the theanine, which has been shown to increase the production of alpha brain waves (the same that are boosted during meditation). Matcha also contains a variety of amino acids and antioxidants that are beneficial. Though in Japan it is primarily consumed hot as a part of the Tea Ceremony, in western countries it is often found served hot, cold, with milk, or sweetened. Regardless of how it’s consumed, we still honor the culture by preparing it in the traditional way.