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Matcha is powdered green tea.
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Matcha is the finest type of Japanese tea available.
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The finest Matcha is, pound for pound, one of the most expensive types of teas you can buy.
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Matcha is the type of tea used in the famous Japanese tea ceremony.
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Matcha is one of the healthiest beverages you can drink. It has extremely high levels of flavonoids and antioxidants that lead to all sorts of health benefits (some of which science has already proven!).
Matcha is all of this and much, much more.
Pulverized Green Tea Leaves
Start with a supple plant of the famed cultivar Camellia sinensis. This plant grows in warm regions, though it can also grow in temperate places like southern Japan.
Situate your tea plants so that they don’t receive too much direct intense sun.
And as the time to cultivate the young supple tea leaves approaches, you might even consider draping your tea plants in screening to further insure your plants don’t receive too much direct sunlight.
At the perfect moment, harvest only the youngest, softest, most tender leaves that have been produced by the tea plant.
Pick those leaves carefully and then gather them indoors safe from the piercing gaze of the curious sun.
Spread out all the fresh young tea leaves you’ve picked and allow the leaves to dry gently without letting them become too brittle and oxidized.
When the leaves have dried but before they’ve begun to change color due to oxidization, carefully gather up the leaves once again and grind them up into a fine powder using finely calibrated stone tools.
Gently but insistently grind the leaves into the finest powder you can manage.
Matcha is the result of all of your careful labor–the finest, most exquisite green tea known to man.
How to Drink Matcha
If you’re lucky, perhaps you know someone skilled in the art of the Japanese tea ceremony.
In the tea ceremony, you will dress in your best finery and enter a pristine space where your senses will be heightened by the stillness, beauty and careful attention to detail that is the tea ceremony.
Your host may serve you a small sweet traditionally served before drinking Matcha.
At just the right moment, your host will bring out the ceremonial bowls, teapot and implements.
They will use a special bamboo scoop to gather up just the right amount of powdered Matcha to place in your bowl.
When the water is just the right temperature–hot but not boiling–they will pour the water over your Matcha and then use the traditional Chazen whisk to blend the Matcha with the water.
Depending on the type of Matcha you’re enjoying, your host may whisk the tea into a foamy froth. For certain, they won’t leave any clumps of matcha floating in your tea water.
Nor will there be much powdery residue clinging to the sides of your bowl.
By this time, your senses have been sharpened and heightened by the full focus on presence that comes with this Zen-informed tea ceremony.
At the perfect moment, it’ll be your turn to take the tea bowl and carefully, intently raise it to your lips.
The Matcha will greet your lips and slide down your throat, and all that careful attention to detail will gather inside your body and spread out through your veins.
(Try that with your Grandma’s iced tea…)
Matcha Meets the Modern World
Of course, these days, it’s common to find people drinking Matcha beyond the borders of Japan and the confines of the traditional tea ceremony.
You can findMatcha for sale onlineas well as in various specialty stores in most major cities Western and Eastern.
Depending on your tastes, you can find extremely expensive varieties of Matcha or totally affordable bags of Matcha that you can enjoy for very little money.
Simply the Best Drink Money Can Buy
Finally, to answer your question, “What is Matcha?” for once and for all: Matcha is simply the best drink money can buy.
It has massive health benefits.
It occupies a hallowed tradition of awakening, relaxation and presence.
And it tastes really darn good.
If you like Matcha, you’re in good company.
And if you haven’t yet met it, then prepare yourself for a life changing tea experience!
