What does ‘shade-grown’ mean?

Some shading is naturally provided by surrounding mountains and/or dew or fog from the ocean.

Some loose leaf green teas and all malcha require the leaves to be at least partially shade grown. In order to control the amount of sunlight that the tea leaves are exposed to, this step is usually done manually. A large net is placed over the tea field to control the amount of sun/shade that the leaves are exposed to. The degree of shading and period of time before harvesting will vary depending on the farmer/company. Hankook Tea’s malcha (ceremonial grade powdered green tea – photo below) is shaded for approximately 2 weeks before harvesting.