What matcha means
Matcha is produced by shading tea bushes for roughly three to four weeks before harvest, steaming and drying the leaves into tencha, removing stems and veins, then milling the leaf flesh into a fine powder. Unlike steeped tea, the entire leaf is whisked into water and consumed, which is why leaf quality and milling fineness drive the final flavor. The Global Japanese Tea Association and producers such as Ippodo and Marukyu Koyamaen describe matcha as a category defined by this shade-grown, stone-milled production rather than by a single flavor profile.
Also called
Matcha also appears as maccha, powdered green tea.