History of matcha - where did this special tea come from?
When you hear the question of where matcha came from , it sounds very trite at first. However, the history of this tea drink is deep, so it is worth learning more about it.
When we talk about matcha , the first thing that comes to mind is Japan. Traditional tea-drinking ceremonies were of great importance to matcha pupularum, which also helped to create the modern method of matcha production.
However, people are often surprised to learn that the history of matcha is much older and that it started not in Japan, but in China. The Chinese were the first to grind green tea and the word " matcha " itself comes from the Chinese language, it means "powdered tea".
The mysterious history of green tea dates back to the 8th century, and in the 12th century, the method of making tea from steamed dried leaves into a powdered tea became popular. It was this method of tea preparation that caught the eye of one Japanese Buddhist monk, Myoan Eisai.
Mjoan Eisai noticed that drinking matcha improved his ZEN meditation sessions by creating a state of calm alertness. Today we know that this is due to the interaction between the caffeine and L-theanine in matcha .
Finally, the monk took this new discovery with him to Japan. It was in Japan that an important breakthrough took place that remains significant in the production of matcha tea to this day: growing the tea in the shade, 2-4 weeks before harvesting.
This process helps preserve far more nutrients, gives matcha a more Umami flavor and reduces the standard bitterness of green tea.
Shade cultivation is believed to have been discovered by accident when Japanese tea growers tried to protect their tea crops from freezing by covering the tea leaves. Well, everything that followed is the history of matcha - eventually this tea began to conquer the hearts of not only Easterners, but also all Westerners.
So, the answer to the question of where matcha tea came from cannot be just Japan or China. Rather, it is a series of happy coincidences that both nations contributed to.
