This is the tea used in the famous Japanese tea ceremony. Tea masters first start with tea leaves and then remove the veins and unwanted parts of the leaf, leaving the meat of the leaf. Once the stems and veins are removed, the leaf is dried to remove excess moisture and at this stage is called Tencha. The Tencha leaves are ground into a very fine powder with a granite stone grinder, and are now referred to as Matcha. It has a very intense, slightly astringent and slightly sweet flavor.