What Is Matcha? A Beginner's Guide to Japanese Powdered Green Tea

Matcha is a Japanese green tea made from leaves that are shaded for several weeks before harvest, then steamed, dried, and ground into a fine powder. Unlike loose-leaf tea, you don’t steep matcha and discard the leaves — you whisk the powder directly into hot water and drink the whole leaf.

Why shading matters

Covering the tea plants before harvest slows photosynthesis. The leaves respond by producing more chlorophyll and amino acids, which gives matcha its vivid green color and its characteristic savory-sweet depth, often described as umami.

How it tastes

Good matcha is smooth and slightly sweet with a gentle bitterness. Lower grades taste harsher and more astringent, which is one reason first impressions of matcha vary so much.

How to start

You need three things: matcha powder, a bowl, and a whisk (a bamboo chasen is traditional, but a small electric frother works). Sift a teaspoon of matcha into the bowl, add about 70ml of hot — not boiling — water, and whisk briskly until a fine foam forms.

Beyond matcha

Matcha is one branch of a much larger family of Japanese green teas — sencha, gyokuro, hojicha, genmaicha — each grown and processed differently. If matcha is your entry point, our Japanese green tea guide maps what to explore next.