What is Matcha? Sugimoto Tea Organic Matcha

Sugimoto Tea Organic Daily Matcha is an additive-free organic matcha powder made by a third-generation Japanese tea maker founded in 1946 and based in Shizuoka, Japan. 

The company is led by Masaaki and Kyohei Sugimoto.

The company works directly with local growers in Shizuoka and is known for careful finishing techniques that shape the aroma and character of its teas.

This is an everyday matcha with a fuller, more assertive flavor than Sugimoto’s Ceremonial Matcha. It works well whisked simply with hot water, and also holds up well in lattes, smoothies, ice cream, and baked goods.

It is 100% pure green tea powder with no sugar or additives, and carries USDA Organic and Kosher certification. Naturally occurring caffeine, L-theanine, and catechins such as EGCG are present in the leaf.

Matcha is a finely ground green tea made from whole leaves. Unlike standard green tea, where leaves are steeped and discarded, matcha is consumed in its entirety, which gives it a more concentrated expression of the tea itself.

All true tea comes from the plant Camellia sinensis. What makes matcha distinct is both how it is grown and how it is handled after harvest. In the weeks leading up to picking, the tea plants are shaded from direct sunlight. 

With less light, the plant slows photosynthesis, which helps preserve higher levels of the amino acid theanine while increasing chlorophyll. The result is a deeper green leaf with a flavor that tends toward savory, lightly sweet, and vegetal.

After harvest, the leaves are steamed, dried, and de-stemmed to create a refined leaf material known as tencha. This is then stone-ground into the fine powder we know as matcha.

Traditionally, matcha is prepared by whisking the powder with hot water until it becomes lightly frothy, rather than steeping the leaves. 

Powdered and compressed tea forms go back to at least the Tang Dynasty (618–907), described in sources like Lu Yu's Classic of Tea, but it was during the Song Dynasty (960–1279) that whisked powdered tea culture truly flourished. The practice was brought to Japan in the late 12th century by Zen Buddhist monks, with the monk Eisai often credited (around 1191), where it gradually evolved into the Japanese tea ceremony and became embedded in Japanese cultural life. 

Today, it is enjoyed both in traditional preparation and in contemporary uses like lattes and baking.

While there are no official grading standards for matcha, it is commonly described in two broad styles. Matchas referred to as ceremonial are typically made from more selectively chosen young leaves, emphasizing smoothness, sweetness, and umami, and are generally intended to be enjoyed whisked with water.

Everyday or culinary matchas, such as Sugimoto’s Organic Daily Matcha, are blended for a more robust, grounded flavor. They can certainly be enjoyed on their own, but their structure makes them especially suited to milk-based drinks and recipes where a more delicate tea would disappear.

Because matcha is consumed as a whole leaf powder, it delivers both caffeine and L-theanine together. This combination is often associated with a steadier, more sustained sense of alertness compared to coffee’s sharper rise and fall.