Matcha and green tea powder.

They look quite similar as both of them are powder.
There is no difference as they are both powder of green tea.

So what's the differences between them?

In a word, 'tea leaf of raw ingredient' is different.

Match is the powder of green tea which is called 'Tencha', an a powder of Sencha (a common tea) is green tea powder.

I would like to explain about them in details such as main components to health Benefits of Matcha & Green tea.



1. Raw ingredient of matcha is Tencha and contains a lot of umami component, Theanine

Tencha, which is the raw ingredient of matcha.
You can consider Tencha is same category as Gyokuro and Kabuse cha.

The cultivation methods for Tencha is different from the usual way. The cover cropping is used for this kind of tea.

That is, the tea which is grown so umami and flavor would be strong.
It contains a lot of Amino Acid that is the umami component. It has own strong umami and sweetness, it's a full of taste. At the same time, it would make you feel relaxed.

Matcha is the power of that Tencha with a stone mill etc.
Because of how it's made, it's more expensive/high end than any other usual tea leaves.


▼Please click here for more information about cover cropping.
Sencha and Gyokuro



2. Raw ingredient of green tea powder is Sencha, contains a lot of Catechins that is good for your body

The powder of Sencha is the green tea powder.

Sencha is the common tea leaves.

Sencha is made normally without blocking the sun like Tencha. It is made with full of sunlight and grow freely, steam and rub, then dry them to get rid of something that it doesn't need. By powdering that Sencha with a machine finely, this is how the green tea powder is made.

When tea leaves get some sunlight, Theanine, Full-bodied flavor component in green tea will transform to Cathechins for bitterness component.(Astringency component in green tea )
Becuase of tis, the Full-bodied flavor component in green tea is less than Tencha but Cathechins which is the representative of healthy components contains a lot more than Tencha.
Therefore, we can say that green tea powder with full of Cathechins is 'very good for body'.

Cathechins is a type of Polyphenol. It is the main component of Astringency component in green tea which has been called 'tannin' from long time ago.

Here is the main Health Benefits of Matcha & Green tea as shown as below for Catechins;

- Decreases blood cholesterol
- Body fat reduction(it may be more effective if you can have it with your meals)
- Cancer prevention effect (By the way, #1 cause of death for Japanese is 'cancer'.)
- Tooth decay prevention, antibacterial effect (prevent catching a cold)


Also, it's more reasonable compare to matcha because it doesn't require a lot of time to grow it like Tencha, so the price of green tea powder is at a low price.


▼Here is for more information about Sencha.
Sencha



3. Matcha and green tea powder have various purposes

Today, in Japan Matcha is not only used for tea ceremony or daily use but also cooking and deserts.
Mathca cake, cookies, ice cream that contains matcha chocolate etc or having Tempura with match mixed salt as well. Recently there are matcha beer and cup noodles available for sale.
If you use matcha, it looks beautiful and it's tasty as well.

On the other hand, you can always enjoy that tea home of course, but the green tea powder is very convenient to have it without using a kyusu so it's also a popular tea in the office.
Also it's used for a drink at Izakaya (Japanese tapas restaurants) with Shochu and it's used a lot as the tea served at Sushi restaurants etc.
By the way, Shochu with green tea powder is a completely different drink than the green tea bevarage used with a green tea in a pet bottle.
It's recommended for someone who drinks alcohol and it's very delicious.

Surely you can use green tea powder the same way as matcha and it can be used for deserts and mix it with salt, as 'green tea salt' as well.



Conclusion

1) The difference between Matcha and Green tea powder

- Matcha = Tencha
- Green tea powder = Sencha


2) Matcha has more sweetness and strong flavor and Green tea powder is good for your health.

- Matcha
It contains a lot of Theanine, Full-bodied flavor component in green tea.
Because of this, the full-bodied flavor component is strong and flavorful.

- Green tea powder
It contains a lot of Catechins, Astringency component in green tea.
Because of this, it has full of components that are good for your body.


3) They are not only useful for drink but also cooking and desserts.

- Matcha = tea ceremony, cooking, desserts etc
- Green tea powder = tea served at restaurants or mixing it with Shochu etc.



[Warning]

There is a boom of Matcha worldwide these days, because of this more sellers are selling matcha.
What I want you to be aware of would be some sellers are trying to sell green tea powder as 'Matcha'. Perhaps they don't know the differences between them. As I informed you earlier, the difference between Matcha and Green tea powder is tea, so if you have any doubts about the product, please contact the seller. If you can get a proper answer from them, you can purchase it at ease.
I wrote about the differences between Matcha and Green tea powder this time. I hope this helps.



I will write an article again.