Matcha tea is the sole well-known and widely consumed kind of powdered green tea. Though the tradition of milling green tea leaves into a delicate powder really started in China it is often thought of as a really old Japanese convention. The word itself, matcha, interprets as ‘rubbed’ or ‘ground tea’. Consuming green matcha tea powder is increasing in renown for its taste, health benefits and tendency to create a feeling of peacefulness.
During the 7th to 10th centuries in China, tea became more popular as methods of better preservation; more effective storage and simpler transport over distance were perfected. In this time, tea cakes of pressed tea leaves were made after the leaves were dried, pressed firmly into the shape of tiny cakes and then baked for preservation. When preparing green matcha tea powder from pressed cakes, one must break off pieces then crumble the pressed leaves into a grinding receptacle. It is then ground to a fine powder. Over time, the process of whisking the tea powder in a bowl with hot water became ritualized and still is a part of the practice to prepare matcha tea currently.
It wasn’t until the 12th Century that matcha green tea powder arrived in Japan. As it gained in recognition in Japan, it lost its place in Chinese tea drinking rituals. The process of whisking green tea with hot water has remained popular to this day in Japan, and the Japanese have customised their own complicated cultural and ritualistic practices to form what is now known as the Japanese tea ceremony.
Since green was tea introduced to Japan it has become a leading producer and exporter of green tea. Uji in Kyoto has the ideal climate, geology, soil and altitude for growing green tea. This area’s mild climate composed of warm days and cool nights are excellent for tea gowning.
Matcha green tea powder is produced by the same techniques as traditional tea farming up until the final three weeks of its growth. Three weeks before its harvest, Matcha green tea plants would be shaded by reed or straw screens or in modern enormous scale farming this is often replaced by black tarpaulin sheeting. This serves to restrict the daylight reaching the leaves that has a couple of effects. The reduced sunlight causes the leaves to turn a brighter vivid shade of green due to increased chlorophyll concentration.
Levels of a specific amino acid called L-Theanine which is unique to green tea, are also increased. This leads to a better taste and more health benefits. This is the compound which is assumed to give this tea its stress reducing effects promoting a calm yet focused awareness. After this shading period is complete, the highest quality matcha will be produced from the outermost leaves of the plant, the unopened tip and 2 top leaves. The carefully chosen tips are then steamed to arrest oxidization, keeping freshness and nutrient content.
At this time the tea now a finished tea in its own right. For matcha production the fibrous stem and vein structure is then stripped from the leaves leaving little irregularly formed parts of the tea leaf which can finally be stone ground into the end product. It is thought that hand milled matcha is still the best and it is definitely its production resembles the normal teas of traditional Japan and China. These days business techniques can guarantee bigger consistency in the plants due to stringent temperature regulation, grinding precision and bigger grinding power and speed all thanks to mechanisation.
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