Why Is Matcha So Green? What Matcha Colour Tells You About Quality
Open a tin of good matcha and the first thing you notice is the colour. That bright, almost glowing green isn't a filter or a trick of the light. It comes from how the tea is grown, picked and made and it can tell you a lot about what's in your cup.
Colour is one of the easiest ways to judge matcha at home. But it isn't the whole story. Here's where the green comes from, what a dull or yellow matcha is telling you and how to keep your tin looking (and tasting) its best.
Where the green comes from
Matcha gets its colour from chlorophyll, the same pigment that makes every leaf green. What makes matcha different is how much of it there is.
In the weeks before harvest, matcha tea fields are covered to block out most of the sunlight. With less light to work with, the tea plants make more chlorophyll to catch what little gets through, so the leaves turn a deeper, richer green. In one study, tea leaves grown under 85% shade had noticeably more chlorophyll than leaves grown in open air.
Shading does something else too. In full sun, tea plants turn L-theanine (the amino acid behind matcha's smooth, savoury umami) into catechins, which taste more bitter and astringent. Keep the leaves in the shade and more of that theanine stays put. That's why vivid colour and rich umami usually go hand in hand: they come from the same process.
Our 753 Matcha is shade-grown using a traditional two-stage process, where the covering is increased in steps as harvest gets closer.
First harvest makes the brightest matcha
The first harvest of the year, picked in spring, is called ichibancha. These are the youngest, most tender leaves of the season, and they're naturally richest in both colour and amino acids.
Tea from later harvests has had more time in the sun. The leaves are tougher, the colour drifts towards olive or yellow, and the flavour turns more astringent. That matcha still has its place, especially in baking, where its stronger taste stands up to butter and sugar. But for drinking, first harvest is where the brightest colour and smoothest flavour are. Every matcha we sell is first harvest.
The tea plant matters too
Just like grapes in wine, different tea cultivars have their own character, and colour is part of it.
Saemidori is a good example. Its name roughly means "vivid green", after the bright colour of its new spring shoots. It was developed in Kagoshima by crossing two other cultivars, Yabukita and Asatsuyu and registered in 1990. It's known for a clear green colour and rich umami with little bitterness, which is why it's one of the three cultivars in our 753 Matcha, alongside Asahi and Okumidori.
Region plays a part as well. Our Saya Matcha is made with the cold-hardy Hokumei cultivar and grown in Saitama, near Japan's northern limit for tea. The cold winters give the leaves a thicker texture and a bolder flavour, so two first harvest matchas can look and taste quite different side by side.
Locking in the colour: steaming and stone milling
The moment tea leaves are picked, natural enzymes start to oxidise them, the same process that turns leaves brown in black tea. To stop that, Japanese tea makers steam the fresh leaves, usually for just 15 to 30 seconds. The heat switches the enzymes off and locks in the green.
The leaves are then dried flat without rolling, which turns them into tencha, the raw material for matcha. Finally, the tencha is slowly ground between granite millstones. Stone milling is slow, but it creates very little heat, which helps protect both the colour and the flavour.
Why matcha fades
Chlorophyll is delicate. Light, heat, air and moisture all break it down, and once tea is ground into a fine powder, there's a huge amount of surface area exposed. As chlorophyll breaks down, it turns into compounds that are a dull olive-brown.
So if a matcha looks yellowish, khaki or brown, it usually means one of three things: it was made from lower-grade or later-harvest leaves, it's old, or it hasn't been stored well. Colour and aroma tend to fade first, and flavour follows.
How to check your matcha's colour at home
- Look at the dry powder. Tap a little onto white paper and look at it in daylight. Good first harvest matcha should be a vivid spring green, not olive or yellow.
- Smell it. Fresh matcha smells sweet, grassy and slightly vegetal. A flat or stale smell often goes with faded colour.
- Don't judge by the latte. Milk softens the colour and the foam on whisked matcha makes it look paler too. Always compare the dry powder.
- Taste it. A bright matcha should also taste smooth, with natural sweetness and umami. If it's bright but harsh, colour alone isn't telling you the full story.
How to keep your matcha green
- Keep it in the tin. Our tins block out light and close tightly, so there's no need to decant into a glass jar, however pretty.
- Close the lid straight away. Every minute open lets in air and moisture.
- Store it somewhere cool and dark. Keep it away from the hob, the kettle and sunny windowsills.
- Use a dry spoon. Even a little moisture can make powder clump and fade.
- Enjoy it within a month or two of opening. That's when colour and aroma are at their best.
- Using the fridge? It slows fading for longer storage but seal the tin well so it doesn't pick up other smells and let it come to room temperature before opening to stop condensation forming inside.
Colour is a clue, not a verdict
A vivid green is one of the best signs of fresh, well-made, first harvest matcha. But treat it as a starting point. Smell, texture and, above all, taste complete the picture. The best way to learn what good matcha looks like is to try a few side by side and see how colour and flavour line up.
If you'd like to do exactly that, here's where to start.
753 Matcha
Our signatureSingle-origin, first harvest ceremonial matcha from Honyama, Shizuoka, made with Saemidori, Asahi and Okumidori. Shade-grown, smooth and layered, with rich umami.
753 & Saya Bundle
Two-tin BundleTwo first harvest matchas from Shizuoka and Saitama. See and taste how region and cultivar change the colour and flavour in your cup.
