Matcha

I first heard of matcha when I saw a post on Instagram with a celebrity drinking it. Then, I remembered everyone was eating/drinking it and I was curious about this green miraculous powder. I tried it and fell in love with it. I felt energised and like my body was eliminating all the toxins thanks to this prestigious Japanese tea.

Some of my relatives also went to Japan and when they asked me if I wanted any souvenir from their trip, I quickly replied I would have just appreciated some matcha powder. They bought it for me and it was the best present they could ever bring me. I should warn you that the taste of matcha is quite strong and a little bitter, so I don’t think is suitable for everyone. But I really liked this distinguished taste and quickly tried other trends, like matcha ice cream and lattes. However, I still prefer the classic matcha tea as I feel like that its benefits are better absorbed by the body in its pure form.

The origin of this green tea dates back to the Tang Dynasty in China. They created blocks with tea leaves so they could move it from one location to another much more easily. After that, another major figure in the popularisation of matcha was Eisai, a monk, who travelled to Japan and brought Chinese tea seeds to transform them into powder thanks to his knowledge of Zen Buddhist practices. He then started planting these seeds in Kyoto, where matcha was grown limitedly and was therefore seen as a prestigious element.

Then, other Buddhists started growing more plants of this type of green tea which slowly became part of the Japanese Tea Ceremony. If you want to read more about the current harvesting process of matcha and how it’s transformed into a fine green powder, then click this link.

Matcha has not only become famous because of influencers and models sporting their trendy drink on social media, but it has a reputation of having many benefits. For example, a study from the NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) found that matcha has a quantity of catechins 137 times higher from other regular green tea. Catechins are commonly called antioxidants, which help us prevent diseases caused by oxidative stress (eg. cancer, immunity/cardiovascular diseases).

Furthermore, matcha also helps lower glucose and total cholesterol levels in the liver of diabetic rats. The experiment featured feeding the animals a daily amount of matcha for 16 weeks. The study could indicate that this powder helps prevent “hepatic and renal damage”. Moreover, matcha was also investigated for its brain boosting properties. In fact, a study compared the effects of placebo v matcha. The results suggested that the latter can affect positively attention levels and memory.

It’s no surprise that because all of these benefits, matcha is not a cheap like the most common green teas. However, from what I saw on YouTube videos you just need a really small amount of the powder to create a delicious energy-boosting drink. When buying matcha, I also suggest you purchasing the bamboo whisk and its holder, so the whisk’s shape stay the same and the bamboo doesn’t get ruined.

From what I learnt, here’s the process for creating you authentic Japanese tea. You’ll need a small amount of the powder (maybe google it, to know how much you need for your amount of water) in a little bowl, add in some hot water (not boiling) and after you whisk in a zig zag motion to form the top bubbly layer and to melt the powder. Then you should put the whisk on the holder, otherwise if the hot water goes towards the handle it will ruin the material and, in this way, you can keep its shape last longer. I’m not too sure on how you should clean the whisk, but there are several tutorials on YouTube to help you with that 😊

Hope you enjoyed this fun facts edition of matcha and hopefully I’ve convinced you to try this beneficial green tea!