The main places where tea bushes grow in Japan are the Uji region near Kyoto, Kumamoto Prefecture, Saga, Shizuoka and Fukuoka.
For the production of green tea, the Japanese method of stopping fermentation is used by steaming raw materials with hot steam. The tea leaves and stems are then dried with tossing in the process. When dried, the leaves break under their weight and curl a little.
Depending on the sorting of the steamed and dried raw materials, Sencha or Gyokuro tea is obtained from whole twisted leaves. From whole large and flat tea leaves – Atamacha, from stems – Kukicha (Karigane), from buds – Mecha, from crumbs – Konach.
Matcha (抹茶) is a powdered green ceremonial tea. Produced by grinding Tencha tea with granite millstones. Used in the Japanese tea ceremony to make koitcha and usucha tea by whipping with a bamboo whisk. In most industries, an electric motor is attached to the stone millstones. In an hour, one millstone grinds about 40 grams of tea. 45 minutes work, 15 minutes rest. Since the millstone heats up during operation and its temperature changes, a break is required.
Matcha tea is indeed very labor intensive to produce. It can also vary greatly in taste depending on plantation and production.
