Matcha “This is not rocket science”: the production process from leaf to bowl

During my annual trips to Japan to visit organic tea producers, I’ve had the opportunity to visit dozens of tea gardens and production sites throughout the archipelago.

When it comes to premium matcha tea, the production process is almost always identical, yet fascinating.

In fact, it hasn’t really changed since matcha tea was first created, despite the industrialization and modernization of agriculture.

In this article, I’ll explain in detail all the stages involved in producing premium matcha tea, from leaf to bowl.

The tea bushes are covered for 2 to 3 weeks around mid-April.

The tea bushes are covered to gradually reduce their exposure to the sun and prevent photosynthesis.

The new leaves become wider and thinner to better capture the light, they are very tender and their color is bright green.

Harvesting generally takes place in early May

Only the first two leaves of each stem are harvested for premium tea. It is therefore necessary to pick by hand to separate the older leaves, which have been more exposed to the sun, from the younger leaves.

Today, a result similar to hand-picking can be achieved with certain harvesters, but tea harvesting for matcha is mainly done without the aid of machines.

This video shows schoolchildren taking part in the tea harvest. You can see they’re wearing their sports uniforms. Normally, it’s mostly elderly ladies who do the picking.

In the following video you can see how the combine harvester works. Mechanization is progressing in Japan as labor costs have risen, and portable harvesters are 60% more efficient than hand harvesting.

Traditionally, there is only one harvest a year in the spring, and the tea bushes are shaved to prepare them for the following year’s crop. However, some growers harvest 2 or 3 times a year.

Tea leaves are transformed into tencha – 碾茶

Tencha is the raw material for matcha tea. When ground, it becomes what we call matcha.

Although machines are used and tea is transported on conveyor belts, processing techniques have remained unchanged for hundreds of years.

• Ventilation (送風) and humidification (加湿): if leaves are left fresh for too long, they start to ferment. Moist air is blown over the leaves to preserve their quality and freshness.
• Steaming (蒸熱): the leaves are steamed for about twenty seconds to stop oxidation and give them the desired color and fragrance.
• Agitation (攪拌) and cooling (冷却): the leaves are cooled immediately to prevent their color and aroma from degrading. They are placed in a sort of butterfly cage, 5 to 7 meters long, where cold air blows. The leaves are separated from each other.
• Summary drying (荒乾燥) and main drying (本乾燥): the leaves circulate on a conveyor belt in an oven with several stages of different temperatures, the process lasting about half an hour.
• Leaf and stem separation (つり切り): the leaves are almost completely dry, but there is still some moisture in the stem part. The stem and veins are separated from the rest of the leaf.
• Second drying (再乾燥): the stems and veins are put back into the oven to dry completely, then separated one last time with air.
• Packing (梱包): the leaves are packed in rigid paper bags weighing around 15kg.

The tencha is sold to distributors who create their own matcha tea by blending it.

It is most often matcha distributors who select and assemble several tencha to make a blend. They seek to reproduce a consistent quality and taste for each harvest.

Blending is carried out by a tea master, or chashi (茶師).

Essentially, it’s a combination of three types of tencha. Here’s how to choose them.

For the first, you choose a tea that’s flavorful, but lacks color when ground.

For the second, you choose a tea whose color is vibrant, but whose taste and aroma are less than ideal.

And for the third, we choose a tea whose aroma is excellent, but which lacks taste and color.

By combining the qualities of these three teas, we obtain a blend that possesses the three essential traits of a premium matcha tea: aroma, flavour and color.

Depending on the desired result, 4, 5 or even 6 different tenchas can be combined.

The tencha is then refrigerated until it is ready for grinding. When the matcha has been ground, it oxidizes more quickly, as the tea particles are more in contact with the air. On the contrary, when tencha is stored, it can improve with age, while retaining its freshness – like a fine wine.

Tokuya-san, for example, offers us his natural matcha that he harvested two years ago. By letting it mature, the tea has a more complex, rounder taste. Its aromas have developed.

Tencha is ground into matcha shortly before consumption to preserve its freshness.

Tencha is ground into powder with a granite mill (茶臼) before being sold.

Today, the process has been mechanized, but the use of machines has not speeded up production: inside the mills, the temperature can rise to 50ºC. If the temperature is too high, the matcha spoils. If the temperature is too high, the matcha degrades. The maximum grinding speed for matcha is 30 to 40g per hour per mill.

The matcha is then packaged in tins or sachets and sent to our warehouses in Paris.

All that’s left is to enjoy it!

All that work for … 30g of tea?

Although the production of matcha tea is a simple process, it requires a great deal of resources and time. Its industrialization has reduced the labor required to produce it, but certain stages, such as grinding, cannot be changed without lowering production quality.

This is why premium matcha tea is and always will be considered a luxurious and precious product, both in Japan and in the West.

It’s also why I strive to offer matcha of impeccable quality, and why I continue to visit the tea gardens and factories of our farmer-partners every year.