100g Organic Matcha Green Tea Powder | USDA Certified Matcha Powder | Best for Making Smoothies, Lattes, Baking,Matcha Tea

What is Matcha Powder  Green Tea?

History

China (618-907), tea leaves were steamed and formed into tea bricks for storage and trade. The tea was prepared by roasting and pulverizing the tea, and decocting the resulting tea powder in hot water, adding salt. In the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the method of making powdered tea from steam-prepared dried tea leaves, and preparing the beverage by whipping the tea powder and hot water together in a bowl became popular. Preparation and consumption of powdered tea was formed into a ritual by Zen Buddhists. The earliest Chan monastic code in existence, entitled Chanyuan qinggui (Rules of Purity for the Chan Monastery, 1103), describes in detail the etiquette for tea ceremonies. A bowl of matcha on a black lacquered tray with a traditional sweetZen Buddhism and, along with it, the Chinese methods of preparing powdered tea were brought to Japan in 1191 by the monk Eisai. Powdered tea was slowly forgotten in China, but in Japan it continued to be an important item at Zen monasteries, and became highly appreciated by others in the upper echelons of society during the 14th through 16th centuries. Along with this development, tea plantation owners in Uji perfected techniques for producing excellent tea for matcha. It was thus able to live on in Japan, develop, flourish, and gradually giving rise to the iconic Japanese Tea Ceremony we know today.

Production

The preparation of matcha starts several weeks before harvest, when the tea bushes are covered to prevent direct sunlight. This slows down growth, turns the leaves a darker shade of green and causes the production of amino acids that make the resulting tea sweeter. After being picked, fresh tea leaves are processed the same day. These tea leaves go through six steps: steaming, drying, sorting, drinding with a stone mill. After harvesting, if the leaves are rolled out before drying as usual, the result will be gyokuro (jewel dew) tea. However, if the leaves are laid out flat to dry, they will crumble somewhat and become known as tencha. Tencha can then be de-veined, de-stemmed, and stone ground to the fine, bright green, talc-like powder known as matcha. It takes one hour to grind 40g (1.41 oz) of top-quality Matcha with a stone mill. The result is a finely-textured powder.