What Is Tencha? The Tea Leaf Behind Matcha

Tencha is the tea leaf used to make matcha. Before the leaves become bright green powder, they exist as a dried, shade-grown Japanese green tea with a very different appearance from sencha.

If matcha is the finished powder, tencha is the prepared leaf immediately before grinding.

How is tencha grown?

Tea bushes intended for tencha are shaded before harvest. In Uji tea production, traditional definitions describe tea fields covered for roughly two to three weeks before picking.

This is known as covered cultivation or ōishita cultivation. The reduced light encourages a leaf profile associated with stronger umami, lower astringency and deeper green color.

How is tencha processed?

Freshly harvested leaves are steamed and then dried without rolling.

That final phrase is crucial. Sencha is rolled during processing. Tencha is spread and dried open so the leaf remains flatter and easier to finish and grind later.

After the first drying stage, rough tencha can be stored and later finished by cutting, sifting and removing stems and veins.

What does tencha look like?

Finished tencha does not look like the neat needle-shaped leaves of sencha. It tends to consist of thin, irregular, flat pieces of leaf tissue after the coarser veins and stems have been removed.

Once ground, those soft leaf pieces become matcha.

Is tencha the same as matcha?

No. Tencha is the leaf; matcha is the powder made from it.

The Kyoto Prefectural Tea Industry Chamber defines matcha as tencha made into fine powder using a tea mill or other suitable grinder.

Is tencha the same as gyokuro?

No, although the two are closely related.

Both are shade-grown Japanese green teas. The major processing difference is that gyokuro is rolled, while tencha is dried without rolling.

That difference leads to very different final uses:

• gyokuro remains a leaf tea and is infused with water;
• tencha is finished and ground into matcha.

For more on gyokuro, read What Is Gyokuro?.

Can you brew tencha like normal tea?

Yes, and some tea shops sell tencha for drinking. But it is much less common than sencha or gyokuro because tencha is primarily produced as raw material for matcha.

The cup can be light, sweet and umami-rich, but it should not be used as a substitute for judging how the same tea will taste after grinding. Grinding changes texture, concentration and the way the whole leaf is consumed.

Why remove stems and veins?

High-quality matcha aims for a very fine, smooth powder. Coarse stems and veins would grind differently from soft leaf tissue and can affect texture and balance.

Traditional finishing therefore separates much of that tougher material before grinding. Some of the removed stem material can be used in other tea products rather than simply discarded.

Does all tencha become matcha?

Tencha is produced specifically as the raw material for matcha, but not every batch is identical in quality or intended use.

Some tencha will become everyday matcha for usucha or food use. Finer batches may be selected and blended for richer drinking matcha or koicha.

What determines tencha quality?

There is no single factor. Producers consider:

• cultivar;
• field and soil;
• shading method;
• harvest timing;
• leaf tenderness;
• steaming and drying;
• storage;
• color;
• aroma;
• umami, sweetness and astringency.

Why is tencha becoming more important?

Global demand for matcha has increased sharply, which has encouraged more Japanese tea growers to shift fields toward tencha production. That matters beyond matcha itself because agricultural land, labor and processing capacity are shared across the broader Japanese tea industry.

Understanding tencha therefore helps explain not only how matcha is made, but also why changes in matcha demand can affect sencha, hojicha and other Japanese teas.

The simplest definition

If you remember only one thing:

Tencha is shade-grown green tea that is steamed and dried without rolling; once finished and ground into fine powder, it becomes matcha.

Continue with How Is Matcha Made? and Why Is Uji Famous for Matcha?.