What Is Tencha? The Leaf Behind Matcha

Matcha is ground tea. But what it is ground from, tencha, is not widely understood outside Japan, and understanding the intermediate step explains a great deal about why the quality of matcha varies so widely between producers.

From Field to Tencha

The production of ceremonial grade matcha begins well before harvest. After three to four weeks of shading, the tea leaves are harvested, steamed to halt oxidation, dried, and then processed in a specific way that distinguishes tencha from other forms of processed tea.

In tencha production, the dried leaves are de-stemmed and de-veined. The stems and veins are removed because they contain a disproportionate amount of the compounds that would add bitterness and reduce the smoothness of the final matcha. What remains is the pure leaf material, ground to produce matcha.

This de-stemming and de-veining step is one of the most labour-intensive parts of tencha production, and it is one reason that properly produced ceremonial grade matcha costs what it does.

Why Not All Tencha Is the Same

The quality of the tencha directly determines the quality of the matcha. First-harvest, shade-grown tencha from a named cultivar produces a very different matcha than tencha made from later-harvest, unshaded leaves with stems and veins retained. The former is the basis of A-Grade ceremonial matcha. The latter is the basis of culinary grade products.

This is why the information on a matcha tin matters so much. When a producer specifies the cultivar, harvest, and origin, they are telling you the quality of the tencha from which the matcha was made. When that information is absent, there is usually a reason.

What This Means When You Buy

Our matchas, including the Ceremonial Matcha A-Grade from Yame and the single-cultivar Okumidori and Samidori from Wazuka, are made from first-harvest, shade-grown, de-stemmed, de-veined tencha. This is the foundation. What you taste in the cup is a direct expression of it.