17 Jun 2015 Matcha-maker, matcha-maker, make me some tea

Lest anyone thinks this is the cutting edge of health and hipness, the Japanese Buddhist monk Eisai was way ahead – in 1191, he brought tea seeds back to Japan from China, where he had studied to become a Zen teacher. The tea plants thrived in the hills around Kyoto.

Zen Buddhists in China had developed a method of grinding tea leaves, then whisking the tea powder and hot water in a bowl to form a frothy drink. Eisai brought this knowledge back to Japan, where he founded Japan’s first Zen temple.

Esai wrote a book on tea, Kissa Yojoki, or “How to Stay Healthy by Drinking Tea,” which played a major role in spreading tea culture in Japan. Its first sentence: “Tea is the ultimate mental and medical remedy and has the ability to make one’s life more full and complete.”

As Zen Buddhism began to spread in 13th-century Japan, matcha tea seemed to help the monks stay calm, yet focused and awake, during long meditation sessions. (Centuries later, scientific studies revealed that the combination of caffeine and the amino acid L-theanine in tea may improve focus and mood.) By the 14th century, the matcha habit had spread to all classes of Japanese society.

Why the interest in America?

But if matcha has been consumed for hundreds of years, why the sudden boom in the mainstream American market?

Alissa White, who founded her company Matcha Source, first became interested in matcha about 10 years ago. “It was deeply rooted in the language of wellness,” she says. “I think that was the beginning of the boom. It just caught on one cup at a time.”

White isn’t surprised by matcha’s spiking popularity. Its unique powdered form makes it easy to use in many ways: straight up, in shakes, yogurt and lattes, and in muffins, cookies and ice cream. Matcha powder has been an ingredient in Japanese desserts for many years.

“For people who may not be tea drinkers,” White says, “there’s another way for them to get the nutritional benefits and energetic lift.”

All tea comes from one plant,Camellia Sinesis. The differences between types lie in the processing of the leaves, and green tea is minimally processed. But because matcha is ground, the entire leaf is consumed in powdered form. This makes matcha tea a highly concentrated version of regular green tea, and only a teaspoon or less of powder is needed to make a bowl.

Green tea has been linked to lots of potential health benefits, including improved heart health, weight maintenance and a reduced risk of cancer. So does that mean that one cup of matcha tea will provide you with the nutritious punch of multiple cups of regular green tea?

Karen Collins, nutrition adviser to the American Institute of Cancer Research in Washington, DC, says the actual health benefits of drinking matcha tea are not clear-cut…..

NPR.org: Read the full article

Related reading:

Bored being a yoga jerk? Drinking matcha is NYC’s hot new … – New York Post

What’s the deal with matcha, anyway? – Huffington Post