What Makes Sencha Green Tea Different From Matcha?

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Green tea fans, this one's for you. No tea-head worth their weight in leaves would mistake sencha for matcha (or vice versa). But what, exactly, makes these two green tea pillars unique? Both can be enjoyed hot or iced. Both come from the camellia sinensis plant (like all teas) and are primarily cultivated in Japan. Their chief difference is that sencha tea leaves are steeped in hot water, then filtered out to serve, while matcha powder is dissolved directly into the water, sans tea bag.

On the palate, sencha and matcha also both taste bitter and slightly astringent. While sencha leans more umami and vegetal, matcha is commonly enjoyed as a tea latte with milk, resulting in a sweeter, more dessert-like profile. Regarding caffeine, tame sencha packs 20 to 35 milligrams of caffeine per 8-ounce cup. Matcha, on the other hand, packs 38 to 89 milligrams of caffeine, which is why it's called "the espresso of tea".

Another key difference is their price point, with luxurious matcha being comparatively steeper than everyday sencha. A 2.82-ounce bag of high-quality sencha green tea leaves by Chaganju brand runs for $14.83 on Amazon, while a 1.4-ounce container of ceremonial grade matcha powder by Naoki Matcha costs $23.99. On the note of luxury, matcha is more of an elevated treat, while sencha is among the most popular teas enjoyed daily in Japan. In fact, sencha alone is responsible for more than 50% of Japan's total annual tea harvest.

Sencha green tea leaves are steamed, rolled, and dried. This preparation concentrates and preserves the tea's natural flavor for optimized accessibility when it's time to steep (the application of heat via steaming naturally stops oxidation). This process was invented by Japanese tea farmer Nagatani Soen in 1738, and today, a monument to Soen in the town of Ujitawara is maintained by large Japanese tea companies — a nod both to Soen's discovery and to sencha tea's enduring popularity in Japanese culture.

Sencha's dried tea leaves are shaped like small rectangular strips or flat needles, which get steeped in water to brew. A mesh tea ball or paper tea bag gets the job done here. Five grams of sencha tea per 150 milliliters of water is the ideal steeping ratio. Use water heated to 140 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit, and steep for at least one full minute but not longer than two minutes.

Sencha green tea tastes grassy and vegetal. Sencha plants grown on unshaded land lean more bitter on the palate, while shade-grown sencha tea plants lean sweeter with a steamed vegetable flavor. If the tea plant is shaded for more than 21 days, it becomes reclassified as gyokuro tea, which is considered a different category from traditional sencha. Unique growing and steaming processes can influence the taste of one sencha brand to the next, but in general, sencha is known for its savory undertones of miso soup, edamame, sweet corn, baby spinach, starchy rice, and citrusy grapefruit. 

Matcha is high-quality, young green tea that's milled into a finely ground powder. To serve, it gets mixed into a small amount of water using a bamboo whisk until frothy and dissolved. A splash of hot water aids in the matcha's thorough, even mixing, even if you're assembling an iced matcha latte. Two ounces of 165-degree water per teaspoon of matcha powder is the ideal matcha-to-water ratio. Bonus: We have a few more expert-approved tips for whipping up cafe-worthy iced matcha lattes at home to help you out.

Matcha tea plants are shade-grown for 20 days. Like sencha, matcha is steamed post-harvest. But, once steamed, the leaves are dried, deveined, and stone-ground into an ultra-fine powder. Whereas steeped sencha tea produces a translucent, muted green hue, matcha powder dissolved in water produces a vibrant, opaque, bright green color. The pigmentation is so strong that just a splash of dissolved matcha powder is enough to dye a large iced matcha latte full of thick soy milk a vivid neon green hue.

On the palate, matcha tastes sweet and earthy with a subtle nuttiness and mellow grassiness. Matcha's natural bitter intensity is typically rounded by the choice of milk (i.e. oat milk, soy milk, etc.) when matcha is prepared as a tea latte, and also often includes a touch of sweetener such as simple syrup. Smooth, velvety matcha powder is also commonly added into the dry ingredients of myriad baked goods like cupcakes, muffins, mochi, and more, or blended into smoothies.