3–4 weeks before harvest

Tea plants destined for matcha are covered with bamboo frames draped with shade cloth (traditionally woven straw, now typically black netting or fabric). This reduces sunlight reaching the leaves by 70–90%.

What happens under shade: The plant, deprived of normal light, goes into survival mode. It produces more chlorophyll (to capture every available photon) and more L-theanine (an amino acid that balances the plant's stress response). The result: deeper green colour, more sweetness, less bitterness.

Why it matters for your cup: Longer shade time = more L-theanine = more sweetness and umami, less bitterness. Ceremonial grade uses the longest shade time. This is the most costly step in matcha production — setting up and maintaining shade infrastructure over large fields is expensive and labour-intensive.

Spring — first flush (ichiban-cha)

Matcha is made from the new growth that emerges in spring. The very first leaves of the season (first flush, or shincha) are the most prized. They are harvested by hand — only the two or three youngest leaves from each shoot are selected.

Why hand-picking matters: Machines cannot distinguish between young and old leaves. Machine harvesting mixes leaf ages and produces lower quality. Hand picking is slow (one skilled picker harvests about 10kg per day) and expensive — this is why premium matcha is so costly.

Later flushes: Second and third harvests (summer, autumn) produce leaves used for culinary grade. The first flush is reserved for ceremonial and premium culinary grades.

Immediately after harvest — stopping oxidation

Freshly picked tea leaves, if left alone, would start oxidising immediately (turning brown, like an apple after cutting). For matcha, this must be stopped immediately. The leaves are steamed for 15–20 seconds at high temperature.

Why steaming (not pan-frying): Japanese green teas use steaming to stop oxidation. Chinese green teas typically use pan-firing. Steaming preserves more chlorophyll and amino acids, giving matcha its characteristic bright green colour and sweet flavour. Pan-fired leaves produce a more toasty, less vibrant flavour.

Removing stems and veins — creating tencha

After steaming, the leaves are dried in a warm air chamber. At this stage, the product is called aracha (rough tea). Stems, veins, and any woody material are then separated from the leaf blades.

The pure leaf blades — called tencha — are what becomes matcha. The stems and veins (collected separately) are used for other tea products. Only the leaf blade is stone-ground into matcha.

Why this matters: Tencha (matcha precursor) has higher amino acid and chlorophyll content than the whole leaf because the stems and veins have lower concentrations of these compounds. Removing them concentrates the quality.

The slowest step — and the most defining

Dried tencha is fed into traditional granite stone mills. Two stones rotate against each other at very slow speed (about 30–40 rotations per minute). This grinds the tencha into the ultra-fine powder we call matcha.

Why slow? Fast grinding generates heat, which damages the delicate amino acids and volatile aromatic compounds in the leaf. Slow stone grinding keeps the temperature low, preserving flavour and nutrients.

The output rate: A single stone mill produces only 30–40g of matcha per hour. For a 30g tin of matcha, one mill runs for approximately 45–60 minutes. This is the main reason high-quality matcha is expensive — the grinding step simply cannot be rushed without destroying quality.

Industrial grinding: Some low-quality "matcha" is produced using high-speed ball mills or industrial grinders. This is faster and cheaper but produces coarser powder, generates heat damage, and results in a flat, bitter, less vibrant product. This is what you get in the Rs 200/100g bags on Amazon.