Japanese Tea – the Matcha
As almost each country in the world, tea has become one of the most popular drinks. Japan is no different with their famous japanese tea. As in the British culture, Japanese also have their tea ceremony tradition. The kind of tea that is used for the Japanese tea ceremony is called matcha. This is kind of green tea with high quality that is finely milled and is powdered.
Matcha is produced from tea leaves that are grown in shade and its preparation begins few weeks before harvesting. The bushes are being covered from the direct sunlight to delay growth and the leaves to become dark green. This stimulates the production of amino acids which make the tea sweet. Picked on hand are only the bets tea buds. When picked, the leaves are put flat to dry and crumble. After that leaves are being de-stemmed, de-veined and stone ground until they transform into bright green talc-like powder tea with high quality.
Because of this complex production process, japanese tea is more expensive than other types of tea. Its price of course ranges and depends on its quality. Matcha also have grades that are stated by factors such as tea bush location, what treatment it received before processing, oxidation and stone grinding.
The Japanese tea (matcha) is tightly connected to the Zen Buddhism and the Chinese methods of powdered tea preparation. Both, Zen Buddhism and powdered tea preparation methods, originated in China from where they were brought to Japan in 12th century by a Japanese monk. As powdered tea lost its popularity in China, in Japan it flourished at the Zen monasteries. Between 14th and 16th century powdered tea became popular in the upper echelons of Japanese society and concreted its place in the Japanese tradition.
The Japanese tea has also a modern shape. It is used to flavor and dye foods, for the preparation of green tea ice cream and a variety of Japanese confectionery. It is also used as ingredient in sweets and drinks such as iced drinks, lattes, smoothies and milkshakes. Matcha even finds its application in alcoholic beverages, liqueurs mainly.
Matcha, being kind of a green tea beverage, has also numerous health benefits. Japanese tea is integrated in variety of healthy food products such as cereal and energy bars. It is believed that japanese tea accelerates metabolism and helps for the reduction of cholesterol if consumed regularly. It is also believed that theanine, which is in the Japanese green teas, can help for the reduction or moderation of mental stress responses.
Besides matcha, there are other popular Japanese tea types such as Houjicha, Sencha, Gyokuro, Bancha, Chinese Tea and Kocha. Matcha however is the most popular among them.