Matcha is a traditional Japanese powdered tea made from finely ground green tea leaves. It is without a doubt becoming more & more popular, and a great alternative to coffee!
Matcha is considered one of the greatest superfoods in the world, and we are seeing it pop up in many cafes, restaurants & recipes across the Western world. Slowly but surely, people are saying goodbye to coffee & getting their energy fix from magical matcha!
Matcha powder is a type of green tea. Matcha is made using ground green tea leaves and most cups of matcha contain the equivalent of 10 cups of regular green tea.
This means one serving of matcha contains the same amount of caffeine content as a double espresso. However, it is slow release caffeine which means it keeps you feeling energised for longer, with a sustained level of alertness, and crucially without any of the usual caffeine-related jitters - the perfect coffee replacement if you ask us!
But how is matcha tea powder made?
Most Japanese matcha, including the matcha we use in our blends, is grown in the Uji region of Japan, near to the ancient capital Kyoto. The tea plants used for matcha are shaded 2-6 weeks before harvest, traditionally by topping them with straw or building a bamboo shelter around them; today black sheets are used. This technique stops sunlight from getting to the leaves and slows the final period of growth.
Our high-quality matcha is plucked by hand, and then the leaves are sorted, cleaned and partially dried before being refrigerated. In this state, the leaves are called tencha. As the leaves that are perfect for producing matcha can be harvested only once or twice a year, it is important that they are refrigerated within the subsequent 48 hours, which allows the tencha to be used to make matcha all year round.
To produce matcha, the tencha leaves are dried again, to remove all but 3 per cent of the moisture. Then, traditionally, they were ground on a hand-carved millstone.
Using this traditional method takes around 20 minutes to slowly grind 10g (/soz) of matcha powder. The grinding process cannot be completed any faster, as speeding it up would create too much friction and heat the matcha powder, as well as making it impossible to produce the finest of powder.
Modern matcha factories have mechanical grinders that can grind a much larger quantity of tencha. The grinding rooms used by our carefully selected partners are always in darkness and temperature controlled to ensure that the bright green colour and flavour are not damaged during processing.
Where did matcha tea powder originate from?
Matcha has been enjoyed for hundreds of years as part of the Japanese tea ceremony, originally for its ability to help the monks leading the ceremonies to keep alert during their meditation and fasting.
Enjoying matcha became part and parcel of Japanese culture and lifestyle, but as the awareness of its green tea benefits became apparent, the love for matcha grew domestically and is now increasingly consumed. At Bird & Blend, we love our wide range of matcha with over 20 flavours that we know you'll love also!
