Matcha is a powdered green tea used in the famous Japanese tea ceremony also known as ‘Chanoyu’. Matcha is made from spring harvest, high quality, shade-grown leaves that are also used to make gyokuro. Shading slows down the growth of tea trees and promotes amino acids production in the leaves. During processing, matcha leaves are not rolled, but laid out to dry so the stems and veins can be easily removed. The de-veined leaves are then stone ground into a fine green powder. Stone grinding matcha requires a lot of skill and knowledge. It is easy to ‘burn’ the leaves during grinding, which will greatly reduce the quality of matcha produced.