What powdered green tea is used in the Japanese tea ceremony? Matcha is the answer.
Matcha is made by finely grinding specially cultivated green tea leaves into a vivid green powder. The plants are shade-grown before harvest, which increases chlorophyll and helps preserve theanine, contributing to matcha’s color and savory umami flavor. Unlike steeped tea, matcha powder remains suspended in the water, so the drinker consumes the leaf itself.
Powdered tea originated in China and reached Japan through cultural and religious exchange, especially through Zen Buddhist monks. Japanese tea traditions preserved and refined the practice after powdered tea declined in China. By the sixteenth century, tea masters including Sen no Rikyū helped shape the ceremony’s emphasis on simplicity, mindfulness, and carefully prepared utensils.
A common mix-up is confusing matcha with sencha or gyokuro. Sencha is brewed from loose leaves, while gyokuro is a shade-grown leaf tea that is still normally infused rather than whisked into a powder.