抹茶Matcha

Matcha (Japanese: 抹茶) is a finely ground powder of green tea specially processed from shade-grown tea leaves. Shade growing gives matcha its characteristic bright green color and strong umami flavor. Matcha is typically consumed suspended in hot water.

Matcha originated through cultural exchanges between China and Japan in the premodern period, developing from earlier powdered tea practices in China that were transmitted to Japan by Zen Buddhist monks. During the Song dynasty, tea leaves were ground into a fine powder and whisked with hot water. This method was introduced to Japan by the monk Eisai around 1191, where it continued to develop and ultimately evolved into what the world knows today as matcha even as such practices declined in China.

During the Muromachi period in the sixteenth century, Japanese tea farmers developed shading techniques to produce tencha (碾茶), the tea leaves used for grinding into matcha. This innovation contributed to the development of modern matcha, characterized by its vivid green color and rich umami flavor, the latter derived from theanine, distinguishing it from earlier forms of powdered tea. It also contributed to the development in Japan of new tea styles such as sencha and gyokuro. Traditionally, matcha was produced almost exclusively in Japan, although it is now also produced in other countries such as China and South Korea.

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