WHAT IS MATCHA?
MATCHA IS A SUPER POWDERED GREEN TEA
Matcha is a finely ground Green Tea powder made from the young and nutrient rich leaves of the green tea plant. However, one month before hand picking the tea is covered so all the chlorophyll goes straight to the leaves for an added benefit to you. Matcha powder is traditionally whisked with hot water to make a rich and frothy green tea, but can also be used to make lattes, smoothies, baked goods, and much more!
Learn the Science Behind the Superfood
Matcha Green Tea Benefits
Matcha powder and other green tea products are often called “superfoods” – nutritional powerhouses that are packed with vitamins, antioxidants, and other natural health boosters.
Drinking matcha is associated with enhanced mental function, disease protection, weight loss, and anxiety relief – but how can one green drink possibly provide all of these health benefits?
It’s easier to understand the powerful matcha green tea benefits when you break it down into its various compounds. Discover the ingredients that you’ll find in matcha powder and other green tea products, and learn the science behind their benefits to your long-term health.
Catechins
Catechins are phenols, aromatic organic compounds that provide green tea with its unmistakable flavor. Catechins are also natural antioxidants, with strong antibacterial qualities as well. These phytochemicals offer a fine balance of what you need to stay healthy and battle off the bad stuff.
Caffeine
Matcha tea powder contains caffeine, a stimulant that you are likely quite familiar with. Naturally found in teas, coffee, chocolate and other foods, caffeine helps improve alertness, reduce anxiety and decrease stress.
Vitamins
Most green tea products feature a variety of vitamins, including vitamins B1, B2, C and E. Some also contain vitamin B6, a nutrient that improves metabolism, digestion, oxidation, immune system function, and cell repair (aka anti-aging). These vitamins are crucial components for a healthy functioning system, and consuming green tea products is an easy, enjoyable way to get them.
Theanine
Theanine (also called L-theanine) is an incredibly powerful amino acid, which provides you with the same benefits of caffeine – without the crash that follows. Higher quality matcha powders and green teas contain higher levels of theanine.
Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll gives green tea, and all other green plants, their verdant green color. It’s a biomolecule that is essential for the process of photosynthesis, or the conversion of light to energy. Chlorophyll is loaded with antioxidants that can help improve your general health, and strengthen your immune system.
Fluorine
Fluorine is a naturally occurring element. Remember the periodic table from high school science class? Fluorine is situated at atomic number nine on the chart. It’s important for healthy kidney function, and green tea products provide more fluorine than any other drink in the world.
Alkaline
Green tea is also an alkaline food, which helps to balance your pH levels and allows your body to absorb more calcium, potassium, zinc and nickel.
We believe that if you’re going to do something, you should do it right. That mentality took us around the world in search of the best Matcha. Our founder was an Emirates Cabin Crew and a self confessed health junkie! We eventually landed in Japan, where we found some of the brightest green powder we had ever seen. Japan has warm weather, and receives plenty of sunlight and rain — all of which make it an ideal climate in which to grow leaves. We searched high and low to find the best tasting tea and found it in the most southern region far from the big cities.
Japan is where the Camellia Sinensis plant is grown. The leaves from this plant are used to make green tea. However, Matcha takes it one step further. In order to make Matcha, the young, nutrient-rich leaves from the Camellia Sinensis plant are ground up into a fine powder.
Production of powdered tea is not anew thing. In china, during the Tang Dynasty that lasted between 600AD and 900AD, Matcha was the main way in which tea was produced and/or consumed.
In the 12th Century, there was a significant transfer of knowledge from China to Japan. This is how the concept of Matcha tea got to Japan. The concept got intertwined with the Zen Buddhism that was widely practiced in Japan, together growing.
By the 16th Century, matcha had grown so much as to become a part of the Japanese tea ceremony, which was a celebration of stillness and simplicity. Even as its popularity decreased in China, the popularity of matcha was increasing in Japan.
Yup, those samurai. The samurai were cultured, fearsome warriors who ranked highly in ancient Japanese caste society. Their identity was built on Zen Buddhism, practicing the principles of discipline, ritual, and purification. The tea ceremony developed into an art form and cultural tradition as the samurai added hundreds of detailed steps in the practice. Specific instructions for how to sit and how to prepare Matcha green tea, the proper hand movements and even the proper design for a tea room were recorded in detail.
Matcha Green Tea Ceremonies played a key role in samurai training, helping the warriors sharpen their focus, concentration and patience in preparation for battle. The Matcha green tea ceremony was developed as a spiritual practice in Japan adhering to the central ideas of harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility.
Matcha green tea is the healthiest drink on the planet. As a fat-burner and cancer-fighter, Matcha dominates the rest of the world of tea. It’s far more nutritious than standard green tea because Matcha is made from ground up whole green tea leaves. It provides a stronger source of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and caffeine than standard green tea. With Matcha, you’re able to directly ingest all the nutrients.