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Tencha

Iced tencha tea

Tencha refers to green tea leaves that have not yet been ground into fine powder as matcha, as the leaves are instead left to dry rather than be kneaded. Since the leaves' cell walls are still intact, brewing tencha tea results in a pale green brew which has a more mellow taste compared to other green tea extracts, and only the highest grade of tencha leaves can brew to its fullest flavor. Tencha leaves are half the weight of other tea leaves like gyokuro and sencha, so most tencha brews require double the number of leaves. It requires approximately an hour to grind 40 to 70 grams of tencha leaves into matcha, and matcha does not retain its freshness as long as tencha in powder form because powder begins to oxidize. Drinking and brewing tencha is traditionally prohibited by the Japanese Tea Ceremony.

Health Effects of Matcha

As matcha is a concentrated form of green tea, it has been long reputed by matcha enthusiasts for centuries that matcha possesses stronger health benefits associated with green tea, and such effects have not been scientifically proven until recently. Caffeine is more concentrated in matcha, which Japanese Zen monks have utilized to stimulate awakeness, but the main matcha constituent expected to have a stress-reducing effect is theanine. Theanine is the most abundant non-protein amino acid in green tea and is what gives matcha its umami flavor. The preparation of matcha requires the tea leaves to be protected from sunlight, resulting in reduced biosynthesis of theanine into catechin and a higher concentration of theanine than in traditional green tea brewing. Theanine's stress-reducing effects were tested at Japan's University of Shizuoka, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, where studies show that lab mice which consumed more than 33 mg/kg of matcha had significantly suppressed adrenal hypertrophy, a symptom that shows sensitivity to stress. The School of Pharmaceutical Sciences also tested the stress-reducing effects on university students and confirmed that students who ingested 3 grams of matcha in 500ml of room temperature water had reduced anxiety (state-trait anxiety inventory or STAI), than students who consumed fake placebo-matcha. Green tea leaves also contain the catechin, epigallocatechin gallate, an antioxidant which is evidenced to be able to mildly prevent cancer, diseases, and aid in weight loss.

As mentioned before, matcha is a higher concentration of green tea and contains caffeine, so the health risks associated with caffeine like increased heart rates can also apply to matcha if over ingested. Green tea leaves also absorb heavy metals from ground soil like aluminum, which can accumulate in the body and cause neurological damage. The study of matcha's health effects is also limited, so further investigation is required.