Maccha Sumire From Uji Tea

Maccha Uji Tea in Kyoto from top brand of Marukyu Ogawaen

After harvesting, if the leaves are rolled out before drying as usual, the result will be gyokuro (jewel dew) tea. However, if the leaves are laid out flat to dry, they will crumble somewhat and become known as tencha . Tencha can then be de-veined, de-stemmed, and stone ground to the fine, bright green, talc-like powder known as matcha.
Note that only ground tencha qualifies as matcha, and other powdered teas are known as konacha, lit. "powdered tea").The flavour of maccha is dominated by its amino acids. The highest grades of maccha have more intense sweetness and deeper flavour than the standard or coarser grades of tea harvested later in the year.