Matcha

A term that refers to a variety of finely-powdered green tea used particularly in the Japanese tea ceremony.

Matcha is produced using shade-grown tea leaves, which ensures that the leaves are a dark shade of green, and also causes the production of amino acids that make the resulting tea sweeter. After harvesting, the leaves are laid out flat to dry, and are then de-veined, de-stemmed, and stone ground to produce a fine, bright green, talc-like powder.