Matcha is a powder green tea made by grounding the leaves of only the finest gyokuro green tea. Unlike other green tea, when you drink matcha you are consuming the tea leaves. Matcha, famous for its use in the Japanese Tea Ceremony, is very high in Vitamin C like all Japanese Green Tea. Matcha is whisked with hot water in a bowl to create a frothy, bright-green, nourishing beverage. There are 2 types of matcha- koicha and usucha, which translate as "thick" and "thin" tea.
As mentioned, Matcha is made from only the finest, hand-picked Gyokuro, which is shaded for about 20 days prior to picking so the new shoots develop larger, thinner leaves with better flavor and texture. Farmers steam the leaves briefly to stop any fermentation, then dry them and pack them in bales ( tencha ) for cold storage. Aging deepens the flavor of the tea, which becomes optimum after six months.
Matcha is very much a delicacy and a high quality green tea, which means it tends to be quite expensive. I tend to drink it once or at most twice a week, with a high quality Sencha being my recommended daily green tea beverage of choice.
Matcha as mentioned is a powder green tea and used most often in green tea recipes. Here are just some of the green tea recipes I have mentioned in other posts:
Green Tea Information