Matcha Green Tea
Discover how matcha green tea started off in China and then became a prominent part of the Japanese culture and is today enjoyed the world over…
The Matcha has been a popular choice of fine green tea powder in the ancient tradition of the Japanese tea ceremony. The powder is also used to dye different kinds of food items such as noodles, mochi and green tea ice cream along with many other Japanese confectionary items.
Matcha green tea is cultivated in the areas of Nishio in Aichi, Uji in Kyoto and Shizuoka. This particular powder is a high end green tea product and is considered to be quite a rarity. It is available in different qualities and the pricing varies accordingly. The matcha green tea needs to be ground into powder form which takes a considerable amount of time and effort. The powder is different from others of the like because this particular powder is derived from shade grown trees.
Chinese Matcha Green Tea
It was China that initiated the export of matcha green tea. They would make dried bricks of the powder and export them to different nations. It is said that the foundations of this trade were laid down during the Song Dynasty. With the advent of Zen Buddhism into the country the production and consumption of matcha green tea become widespread. Matcha green tea actually became the official drink of the Buddhist monks.
When Zen Buddhism crossed the boundaries of China in to Japan it brought along with it the matca green tea powder tradition. Over the years the Chinese lost their infatuation with the powdered tea but the trend really picked up in Japan. It was the Buddhist temples and the aristocrats that enjoyed matcha green tea the most as they were the only people who could afford to do that because of the high price of the powder.
Eventually Japan started its own cultivation in the areas mentioned above. This reduced the price of matcha green tea and enabled the general public to get a load of the powder and its many uses. The Japanese developed many different techniques for preparing matcha tea and henceforth followed many traditions such as the tea ceremony which is practiced till today.
Matcha tea production
Prior to the harvest of matcha tea plants they are covered with a shade so as to prevent direct sunlight from falling on them. This is done in order to slow their growth. It also turns the color of the leaves into dark green and develops amino acids in the leaves of the plant which is what makes them sweeter than other varieties.
It is the process that the leaves undergo after the harvesting has been done that determines what kind of tea will be produced. One of the varieties that come under the matcha green tea umbrella is tencha. This is produced by laying out flat the leaves of the tree and allowing them to dry. Soon they crumble and give form to tencha tea.
It is the presence of amino acids in matcha green tea that are responsible for giving it the flavor for which it is admired. The sweeter the matcha tea the better it is considered to be in terms of quality and of course the more expensive it will be.