Matcha is made from tencha, the shade-grown and de-stemmed leaves of Camellia sinensis, stone-ground into a fine green powder. The same plant gives us green, black, and oolong tea, but matcha takes a specific path: the plants are shaded for weeks before harvest, the leaves are steamed instead of pan-fired, then dried, stripped of stems and veins, and milled slowly on granite. What you whisk into your bowl is the whole leaf, not an infusion left behind by one.

This page is the botany and process story: what the raw material is and how it becomes powder. If you want to know which regions and gardens grow it, that is a separate thread, and we keep the two apart on purpose.

The short answer, in one breath

  • The plant: Camellia sinensis var. sinensis, the small-leaf tea plant.
  • The leaf: tencha, meaning shade-grown leaves that are steamed, dried, and de-stemmed but never rolled.
  • The transformation: tencha ground on a granite stone mill into a powder fine enough to suspend in water.
  • The difference from other tea: you drink the entire leaf, not a steeped-and-discarded infusion.

It starts with one plant: Camellia sinensis

Every true tea comes from a single evergreen shrub, Camellia sinensis. Matcha is made from the small-leaf variety, var. sinensis, the same botanical family behind sencha and gyokuro. There is no separate "matcha tree" and no unique species. What sets matcha apart is not the plant but everything that happens to the leaf after it is picked.

So when people ask what matcha comes from, the honest answer is: the tea plant you already know, grown and finished with unusual care. The craft lives in the method, not in some rare botanical secret.

Shading: the step that changes everything

A few weeks before harvest, growers cover the plants to block most sunlight. Under Japan's food labeling standard, the leaves are shaded for two to three weeks before picking, using materials such as reed screens, straw mats, or cloth stretched over frames.

Starved of full sun, the plant slows down and shifts its chemistry. It holds onto more chlorophyll, which deepens the leaf to a vivid green, and it builds up more of the amino acid theanine. That is the reason good matcha tastes savory and smooth rather than sharp. Shading is the quiet decision that separates matcha-bound leaves from ordinary green tea long before anyone reaches for a stone mill.

Steaming and drying: locking the green in

Once picked, the leaves have to be stabilized fast, before they oxidize and turn brown. Japanese green tea does this with steam rather than the pan-firing used for many Chinese teas. The leaves are steamed at around 100 degrees Celsius for roughly 10 to 15 seconds, just long enough to halt oxidation and set the color.

Then they are dried. In a tencha dryer, the surrounding air runs hot, roughly 170 to 200 degrees Celsius, while the leaf itself stays far cooler. Crucially, the leaves are dried flat and are never rolled. Sencha and gyokuro get rolled into needles; matcha leaves are left open and brittle so they can later shatter cleanly into powder. That single choice, no rolling, is what makes the final grind possible.

De-stemming and de-veining: this is where tencha is born

The dried, flat leaf is not yet tencha in its finished form. Workers separate out the stems and the larger veins, keeping only the soft leaf flesh. What remains, thin flat pieces of shaded green leaf, is tencha, the direct raw material for matcha.

Removing stems and veins matters for taste and texture. Veins carry bitterness and a coarser fiber that would grind unevenly. Take them out and you are left with the tender part of the leaf, which mills into a smoother, sweeter powder. Only after this cleanup is the leaf ready for the stone.

Stone grinding: from leaf to powder

The final step turns tencha into matcha. The flakes are fed into a granite stone mill, two grooved granite wheels turning slowly against each other. The pace is deliberately gentle. A traditional stone mill produces only about 40 grams of matcha in an hour, which is roughly one small tin.

The slowness is the whole point. Grind too fast and friction heats the powder, scorching the fresh aroma and dulling the color. Turn slowly and the granite shaves the leaf into particles just a few microns across, commonly cited around 5 to 10 microns. That fineness is why matcha stays suspended in water and feels like silk instead of settling like sand. It is the reason a single mill takes an hour to fill one tin, and why real stone-ground matcha is never cheap.

From bush to bowl, stage by stage

Stage What happens Why it matters
Shading Plants covered 2 to 3 weeks before harvest Builds theanine and chlorophyll, deepens color and sweetness
Harvest Tender young leaves picked from the shaded bush Only the softest leaf becomes quality matcha
Steaming Steamed ~10 to 15 seconds near 100 degrees C Stops oxidation, locks in the green
Drying Dried flat, never rolled Leaves stay open and brittle for grinding
De-stemming Stems and veins removed, leaving tencha Cuts bitterness and coarse fiber
Stone grinding Milled on granite, ~40 g per hour Produces ultra-fine, aromatic powder

How matcha is made, step by step

  1. Shade the plants. Cover the tea bushes for two to three weeks before harvest to block sunlight and raise theanine.
  2. Harvest the leaves. Pick the tender young leaves from the shaded plants.
  3. Steam. Steam the leaves for about 10 to 15 seconds near 100 degrees Celsius to stop oxidation.
  4. Dry flat. Dry the leaves without rolling so they stay open and brittle.
  5. De-stem and de-vein. Remove stems and large veins, leaving clean leaf flesh known as tencha.
  6. Stone grind. Mill the tencha slowly on a granite stone mill into a fine green powder, about 40 grams per hour.

How matcha differs from the tea you steep

With sencha or a teabag, you pour hot water over leaves, drink the infusion, and throw the leaves away. Matcha skips the throwing-away. Because the leaf is ground into powder and whisked into water, you take in the whole leaf. That is why matcha carries a fuller body and a more concentrated character than steeped green tea from the same plant.

It also explains why sourcing and purity matter so much. When you consume the entire leaf, you are also consuming whatever the leaf absorbed while it grew. That is why we publish third-party lab results for lead and cadmium on our matcha, and why we filmed the gardens and people behind it in Japan rather than asking you to take our word for it. If you are comparing options, our guide to the best organic matcha powder walks through what to look for.

Frequently asked questions

What is matcha made from?

Matcha is made from tencha, the shade-grown leaves of the Camellia sinensis tea plant. The leaves are steamed, dried flat, stripped of stems and veins, then stone-ground into fine powder.

Is there a special matcha tree?

No. There is no separate matcha tree or species. Matcha comes from Camellia sinensis, the same plant used for green, black, and oolong tea. The difference is the shading and processing, not the plant.

What is tencha?

Tencha is the raw material for matcha: shade-grown tea leaves that are steamed, dried without rolling, and cleared of stems and veins. Grinding tencha on a stone mill is what produces matcha.

Why is matcha ground on a stone mill?

Granite stone mills grind slowly enough to keep the powder cool, which protects color and aroma, and fine enough to reach just a few microns. A traditional mill makes only about 40 grams per hour, which is part of why quality matcha is costly.

Is matcha a whole-leaf tea?

Yes. Unlike steeped tea, where you discard the leaves, matcha is the whole leaf ground into powder and whisked into water, so you consume the entire leaf. For more on what that means for strength, see our note on whether matcha is caffeinated.

Where does matcha come from?

Matcha originates from shaded tea gardens, with Japan as its traditional home. Region and terroir shape flavor, which we cover separately. You can also explore our organic matcha collection to taste the difference.

Sources

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