The process flow of organic matcha pure powder mainly includes the following key steps:
Fresh leaf processing: After picking fresh tea leaves, steam killing is required immediately. The purpose of steam killing is to prevent the oxidation of tea leaves, keep the tea leaves green, and destroy the enzyme activity in the tea leaves. The killing temperature is usually 90-100℃, and the time is 8-10 seconds.
Preliminary drying: The tea leaves after killing need to be dried initially, usually in a brick drying room, to reduce the moisture content of the tea leaves from about 20% to 5%-8%.
Leaf stem separation: The dried tea leaves need to be separated from the stems to remove the stems and veins, because these parts contain higher moisture and lower chlorophyll, which will affect the quality of matcha powder.
Final drying: The separated leaves need to be dried again, usually using 60℃ hot air drying for about 10 minutes, and then cut into small pieces of 0.3-0.5 cm to make rolling tea.
Grinding: Tencha needs to be ground to make matcha powder. The traditional grinding method uses a natural stone mill and is carried out under low temperature conditions to ensure a constant grinding temperature, thereby obtaining a fine matcha powder.
Nutritional components and uses of matcha powder
Matcha powder is rich in tea polyphenols, caffeine, free amino acids, chlorophyll, protein, cellulose, vitamins and other nutrients, as well as trace elements such as potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, sodium, zinc, and selenium. These ingredients make matcha powder not only rich in nutritional value, but also widely used in various foods and beverages. For example, when drinking matcha, it is usually made by adding a small amount of warm water and stirring evenly in the way of Japanese tea ceremony, which can make strong tea or thin tea.