How Tencha Is Made: From Shade Cover to Powder
Matcha is ground tencha. Tencha is made differently from sencha, and three decisions separate them: blocking sunlight, skipping the rolling step, and…
July 1, 2025
Production & Ingredients
製法・原材料
15 articles
A Stone Mill Produces 40 g an Hour
The final step in making matcha is grinding tencha on a stone mill. It is remarkably slow. Roughly 40 grams per hour. Producing a single 300 g package…
July 1, 2025
Which Cultivars Become Matcha — and Why Yabukita Doesn't
Yabukita is by far the most widely planted tea cultivar in Japan. It is also poorly suited to tencha. Bred in Shizuoka, Yabukita excels as a sencha…
July 5, 2025
How Sweetened Matcha Powder Is Manufactured
It sounds like mixing matcha with sugar. Blending two powders uniformly is harder than it looks. Matcha particles run 1 to 10 microns. Sugar crystals are…
July 12, 2025
What Each Ingredient Is Doing
Every item on a powdered tea label has a job. The flavor and color. Stone-milled tencha. Umami, body, and the tea finish come from here. It is the most…
July 21, 2025
Sticks, Tins, and Bags: What Format Changes
Powder is vulnerable to moisture, light, and oxygen, so packaging is part of quality control. Each format does something different well. Each serving is…
July 31, 2025
Where Matcha Price Differences Come From
The range is wide, and the reasons are distributed across the whole production sequence. Covers go over the field while shoots develop, with light levels…
August 11, 2025
Why Some Powders Stay Free-Flowing
Caking is almost always a moisture problem. Water on particle surfaces forms bridges between them. As it dries, those bridges harden into clumps.…
August 29, 2025
Foodservice Grade Versus Retail
Same category of product, different design priorities, because the use cases differ. Time between order and service is short. Mixing quickly and evenly…
September 13, 2025
Keeping Matcha Green: Why Coloring Gets Used
Matcha's green comes from chlorophyll. The pigment degrades under light, heat, and air, shifting toward yellow and brown. Powder has far more surface area…
September 21, 2025
Why Flavoring Ends Up in Matcha Products
Matcha's aroma comes from volatile compounds. Time, heat, and air remove them. Between manufacture and the moment someone drinks it, aroma reliably…
October 1, 2025
First Flush and Second Flush: What Harvest Timing Changes
Tea is picked several times a year. The first growth of the season is ichibancha, first flush; later growth becomes second and third flush. Tencha comes…
November 5, 2025
Hygiene Management in Food Manufacturing
In Japan, food businesses are generally required to operate under HACCP-based hygiene management. Full enforcement took effect in June 2021. Hazards…
November 6, 2025
Why Tencha Is Never Rolled
Sencha leaves are long, twisted, and needle-like. That shape comes from rolling. Tencha is not rolled, and this is the sharpest divergence in processing.…
November 7, 2025
Removing Stems and Veins
Between drying and milling, tencha has its stems and leaf veins removed. An unglamorous step that shapes the final texture. Stems and veins are…
November 8, 2025
