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Matcha tea is the only well known and comparatively widely consumed form of powdered green tea and is closely associated with Japan. The word itself, matcha, translates as "rubbed" or "ground tea". Semantics aside both the famous Japanese tea ceremony and Japan's production and consumption of this powdered green tea support this association. However the history of matcha tea has origins elsewhere! It is not widely known that grinding tea into a fine powder is a practice that originated in China.
Back in China's Tang Dynasty (7th - 10th Century) as tea gained increasing popularity methods of better preservation, more efficient storage and easier transportation over distance were sought. This culminated in the process of 'pressing' tea cakes. These were formed of tea molded into cakes after traditional production, pressed firmly and then baked or fired for preservation. When preparing tea from pressed cakes one must break off pieces then crumble the pressed leaves to enable infusion. In the past tea preparation methods involved pounding and roasting the tea until it was powdered before infusing with hot water. From these beginnings the process slowly evolved whereby the grinding of green tea produced by normal methods (unpressed) by monks became popular in the Song Dynasty (10th - 13th Century). By this time the monks had ritualised the process of whisking the tea powder in a bowl with hot water, a practice still forming the basis of matcha tea preparation today.
It was not until the 12th Century when a traveling monk finally brought this green tea powder to Japan. Over time as this form of tea drinking declined from common practice in China it gained popularity in Japan. The process of whisking green tea with hot water has remained to this day, although the Japanese have engendered their own complex cultural and ritualistic practices to form what is now referred to as the Japanese tea ceremony.
Since its introduction to Japanese shores in that distant past, one geographical area in particular has become famous for its production of matcha. As with any type of tea factors such as climate, geology, soil and altitude comprise growing conditions that impact upon the quality of matcha which can be produced. Uji in Kyoto prefecture is an area in which these conditions are ideal due to its rich soil, sloping mist shrouded hills and a healthy temperature differentiation of warm days and cool nights. These inherent environmental conditions alongside production methods following careful tradition and high standards have lead to this area gaining respect as the premier matcha growing region in Japan today.
Typical matcha production methods follows standard tea farming methods until the final three weeks, or 20 days of its growth. Traditionally at this stage the tea is shaded by reed or straw screens, in modern large scale farming this is often replaced by black tarpaulin sheeting. This serves to limit the sunlight reaching the leaves which has several effects. Most obvious is that the leaves turn a brighter vivid shade of green due to increased chlorophyll production. Levels of a particular amino acid called L-Theanine which is unique to green tea, are also increased. This leads to both a sweeter taste and a higher value for one of the health benefits of consumption. This is the compound which is recognized as giving this tea its stress reducing effects promoting a calm yet focused alertness. After this shading period is complete, the best quality matcha will be produced from the highest part of the plant, the unopened tip and two topmost leaves. The hand plucked tips are then steamed to arrest oxidation, retaining the fresh quality and nutrient rich content.
At this stage the tea now qualifies as Tencha both a finished tea in its own right, and the precursor to both the best Gyokuro and matcha teas. For matcha production the fibrous stem and vein structure is then stripped from the leaves leaving small irregularly shaped parts of the tea leaf which can finally be stone ground into the final product! Some maintain that hand milled matcha is still the best and it is certainly more authentic. These days industrial methods can guarantee greater consistency due to stringent temperature regulation, grinding precision and greater grinding power and speed all thanks to mechanisation. Personally I believe each method has something to offer todays tea enthusiast.
Duncan Southgate is a leading loose leaf tea specialist, running both a UK based tea business called Tip Top Tea and increasingly blogging about tea online at the matcha tea blog where you can also find out about the best matcha tea.
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