Compare two teas
Side by side across seven dimensions. There is no verdict and no winner — the purpose is to understand the difference, not to be told which to buy.
TeaHQ has written about this pair
Both are green and both are powder, and only one of them is matcha. The difference is three production decisions that happen before any grinding, and it is visible in the colour.
- Cultivation
- Matcha: Shaded for three to four weeks before harvest.Konacha: Grown in full sun like ordinary sencha.
- What is ground
- Matcha: Tencha — de-stemmed, de-veined, never rolled.Konacha: Whatever leaf or dust was available, usually sencha fannings.
- How it is ground
- Matcha: Slow granite mill, around forty grams an hour, kept cool.Konacha: Fast industrial mill, where friction heat dulls colour and aroma.
- Colour
- Matcha: Vivid jade.Konacha: Olive to khaki, which is the giveaway.
- Taste
- Matcha: Thick, savoury and sweet with a fine bitterness.Konacha: Harsh and flat, with the astringency unmasked.
In summary: If a powder is olive rather than jade and costs a fraction of the going rate, it is ground green tea rather than matcha. Neither is a fraud when sold honestly; the colour tells you which you have.
Point by point
| Dimension | Matcha | Konacha |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Green tea · unoxidised | Green tea · unoxidised |
| Production | In order: Withering → Kill-green (fixation) → Drying. bud and two leaves and spring harvest. | In order: Steaming (Japanese fixation) → Rolling and shaping → Drying. spring harvest. |
| Origin | Japan — Uji | Japan |
| Flavour | umami, vegetal, creamy and chocolate. full bodied, rich and bitter in the mouth. Aroma: fresh grass, seaweed, cream, cocoa. Layered in character. Bold in intensity. | grassy and vegetal. astringent, drying and medium in the mouth. Aroma: fresh grass, seaweed, green stem. Straightforward in character. Bold in intensity. |
| Brewing | Whisking (bowl-prepared powdered tea): 2–4 g/100 ml at 70–80 °C, first steep 30s. Gongfu brewing (gaiwan): 3–4 g/100 ml at 75–85 °C, first steep 20s of 4 authored. | Western brewing (teapot or mug): 1.5–2.5 g/100 ml at 75–85 °C, first steep 30s. Gongfu brewing (gaiwan): 3–4 g/100 ml at 75–85 °C, first steep 20s of 4 authored. |
| Cultural context | Used in Chanoyu (Japanese tea ceremony) and Japanese tea farming practice. Grade language is unregulated. 'Ceremonial' and 'culinary' are marketing terms, not defined standards, and colour is the most reliable quick signal available: a dull olive or yellowish powder generally indicates older, lower-grade or unshaded material, while good matcha is vividly green. | Not recorded for this tea. |
| Who may prefer it | Someone who wants the cup to assert itself and is willing to drink something several times before it makes sense. It rewards attention to leaf weight and timing. | Someone who wants the cup to assert itself and wants to enjoy it on the first cup. It tolerates an imprecise brew. |
Nothing above is a recommendation. The last row describes the drinker each tea suits, using each tea’s own authored fields and the same sentence structure for both, so neither can be framed as the safe choice.