From Douyin and milk tea shops in China to Instagram and TikTok feeds abroad, matcha is dominating the screen. What exactly is its charm that makes young people unable to stop?
The answer lies in a “triple resonance” of Health, Aesthetics, and Culture, made even more moving by a cross-temporal connection to the “Thousand-Year Song Dynasty Rhyme.”
As Japan struggles with climate-induced shortages and tariff barriers, China—armed with a significant cost advantage—is quietly rewriting the rules of the global matcha industry.
Tencha (碾茶) is the raw material of matcha—essentially, the tea leaves before they are ground into powder.
Only when Tencha is ground by a stone mill or a ball mill and sieved to a particle diameter of D60 ≤ 18 microns does it officially become the Matcha we know and love.
This trend is significant. The international trade of matcha is moving from a unidirectional “Made in Japan” output to a new stage where brand and origin are deeply separated. Japanese brands may use global raw materials to maintain their market position, while green tea producing countries like China are accelerating their own branding to penetrate the high-end market in reverse.
Although Chinese matcha and Japanese matcha are inextricably linked, they have developed their own unique styles. Whether it is the rich diversity of Chinese matcha or the refined tradition of Japanese matcha, both are worthy of our appreciation. They are both bright pearls in the treasury of tea culture.
