What's the Difference Between Matcha and Green Tea? #QoW

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

What’s the Difference Between Matcha and Green Tea?

The biggest difference between matcha and green tea is the growing and production process. They start life as the same tea plant, however matcha is grown in the shade while with green tea (or sencha as it can be known) more often sunlight is involved. 

Growing matcha in the shade encourages the leaves to produce an increased amount of chlorophyll, which turns them a darker green. They also produce amino acids at this stage. After harvesting, the leaves are laid out to dry before being ground into the fine, green powder we know as matcha. So quick recap: matcha is made using the entire tealeaf and you consume everything. Green Tea is merely just steeped using the leaves.

One cup of matcha can contain as many antioxidants as ten cups of green tea. Matcha has higher levels of caffeine and more L-theanine (promotes relaxation) than green tea. These increased levels means matcha provides a steadier energy with little crash as opposed to the caffeine in coffee.

So there you have it! Matcha and green tea are both good for you, but matcha just goes that extra mile.