What is matcha?
Matcha is high-grade green tea grounded into powdered form. It comes from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant.
Compared to other teas, matcha is a little quirky, due to the fact that it is shade grown, then steamed or stone ground.
Shade grown means that it is made from shade-grown tea leaves where tea bushes are proteced from sun and light is filtered in a controlled manor. Shading boosts chlorophyll production, which gives the leaves a richer green color. The lack of sun reduces the plant’s photosynthesis of the leaves, which alters the naturally occurring levels of caffeine, flavanols, sugars, antioxidants, and theanine.
The leaves are then treated with steam heat within to halt the oxidation process and bring out the color even more. Doing this creates a unique flavor profile of sweet and vegetal.
Matcha can also be stone ground; this is when the leaves are laid flat to dry and become tencha (leaves from which matcha is made). The tencha leaves are stripped of their stems and venins with the remaining ground in slow-turning mills to yield a smooth green tea powder.
How do you make matcha?
To make a delicious matcha drink, whisk the powder into hot water to form a frothy drink. Whisking promotes aeration, allowing the matcha powder and water to mix with air to give it a thick head of foam on top. The matcha can be a tea, latte, or even a smoothie!
Does matcha have caffeine?
Yes, matcha does have cafeeine! It has less caffeine than brewed coffee, but more than green tea. The tea leaves retain more of their caffeine content. Consuming matcha means you’re consuming the ground tea leaf, which means you’re ingesting more caffeine content than youw ould from the extraction of tea leaves.
What’s the difference between Green Tea and Matcha?
Green tea uses brewed tea leaves with a light, grassy flavor. Matcha, on the other hand, is the pulverized version of green tea leaves. It has a stronger concentration of some key nutrients and antioxidants.
References
- https://www.teatulia.com/tea-varieties-101/what-is-matcha.html
- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/matcha-vs-green-tea#summary
- https://www.sugimotousa.com/blog/how-to-whisk-matcha#:~:text=to%20Enjoy%20Matcha-,Why%20Whisk%20Matcha%3F,head%20of%20foam%20on%20top.
