Baby Fergusson: Matcha Tea

Matcha, also spelled maccha, refers to finely powdered, high quality green tea. The Japanese tea ceremony centres on the preparation, serving, and drinking of matcha.

Blends of matcha are given poetic names called Chamei ("tea names") either by the producing plantation, shop or creator of the blend, or by the grand master of a particular tea tradition. When a blend is named by the grand master of a tea ceremony lineage, it becomes known as the Master's Konomi, or favoured blend.

Above - The Whisk (Chasen), Bowl (Chawan), and Spoon (Chashaku) used during the preparation of a cup of tea.

Zen Buddhism and the Chinese methods of preparing powdered tea were brought to Japan in 1191 by the monk Eisai. Although powdered tea has not been popular in China for some time, there is now a global resurgence in Matcha tea, including China. In Japan it continued to be an important item at Zen monasteries, and became highly appreciated by others in the upper-echelons of society from the 14th to the 16th century.

Matcha is made from shade-grown tea leaves. The preparation of Matcha starts several weeks before harvest & can last up to 20 days, 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. Only the finest tea buds are hand-picked. After harvesting, if the leaves are rolled out before drying as usual, the result will be Gyokuro (jade dew) tea. However, if the leaves are laid out flat to dry, they will crumble 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 can take up to one hour to grind 30 grams of Matcha. This of course relates to the high cost of Matcha tea.

I've been a big fan for many years, and one of the things I missed during pregnancy was my daily (ish) cup. However, I treated myself to a cup on the weekends! Now that I'm not breastfeeding that much I'm allowing myself a slightly more regular cup. It makes me feel great and I swear that I am ill much less than before I started drinking it.

There are 70mg of caffeine in a cup of matcha tea which is moderate (this is half the amount in a cup of black coffee). It yields an immediate boost but not the high rush of caffeine in coffee or black tea.

Matcha can now be found in numerous health-food products ranging from cereal to energy bars. In 2003, researchers from the University of Colorado found that the concentration of the antioxidant EGCG available from drinking matcha is at least three times greater than the amount of EGCG available from other commercially available green teas.

You can drink it hot or cold, nutrients are not destroyed by hot water unlike other foods or drinks.

The health benefits of matcha tea may be attributed to the fact that the whole tea leaf is ingested, as opposed to just the steeped water from the 'bagged' green teas. This means that it delivers a much higher potency of catechins, chlorophyll and antioxidants. By weight, matcha contains several dozen times more antioxidants than blueberries, pomogranates, orange juice, spinach or dark chocolate.

There is evidence from clinical studies that suggests that theanine, when consumed by drinking Japanese green teas may help to reduce or moderate mental stress responses.

My preferred Matcha tea is Matcha Tea Number 1 by Tip Top Tea - it tastes amazing, makes me feel great and is of course more affordable than Matcha Superior teas.