What is Matcha? Learn About Mizuba Matcha || 抹茶
Where does Matcha come from?
A common question we get is "Is Matcha Japanese?" Matcha (抹茶) is historically revered, as the only tea used for over 800 years in the renowned Japanese Tea Ceremony.
Contemporarily prized, one cup of Matcha contains numerous health benefits that boost a healthy lifestyle.
Extraordinarily versatile, one can drink Matcha as a warm & rejuvenating experience–or bake it into endless variations of delectable tea-inspired treats.
(find where to buy our matcha in your part of the world!).
About Matcha
Matcha is the pearl of Japanese green teas. Mizuba matcha comes from the same plant all tea comes from (Camellia sinensis). However, quality matcha green tea is shade-grown for 4 weeks before harvest, and stone-milled into a fine powder from whole "tencha" tea leaves.
Mizuba Matcha is a single-region, single-ingredient tea from small, family manufactories that we personally know and visit in Uji, Japan (just outside of Kyoto). Finding information about matcha on the Internet is fairly easy, but the question is if that information is accurate, complete, and honest.
Mizuba strives to uphold tradition, transparently educate our customers with knowledge directly from our matcha producers, and also provide a deeper knowledge and understanding of what matcha actually is as a finely crafted tea: how it is cultivated, produced, and enjoyed.
Matcha has a long, celebrated heritage of being the only tea used in Japan's iconic tea ceremony, but it is only recently that the world is discovering Matcha's exciting, diverse uses–making it a popular consumer beverage and baking ingredient. Enjoy Matcha as a pure, hot tea, but also use it to make delicious café lattes, smoothies, cookies, cakes, salad dressings, muffins...you name it!
To see how we drink, cook or bake with Mizuba Matcha, check out our videos or blog for awesome recipes.
Mizuba's exceptional-quality Uji Japanese Matcha is renowned for its wonderful health benefits and excellent flavor profiles across all 6 grades. Bring home our beautifully crafted teas today.
Matcha Is Good For You
The health benefits of Matcha are widely celebrated by tea aficionados and the health conscious alike!
Matcha is a concentrated source of:
- Chlorophyll: an anti-inflammatory and circulatory system aide.
- Amino acids (the sweet, stress-reducing L-theanine)
- Catechins: a super category of anti-cancer antioxidants also found in açai, pomegranates, and blueberries.
Unlike traditional steeping where a tea drinker receives only some of tea's nutrients in the water, a Matcha drinker consumes the entire Camellia sinensis (tea) leaf in its powdered state–thereby receiving 100% of the leaf's nutritional value! Drink matcha because it tastes great - but also enjoy the added bonus of matcha's bountiful health benefits!
Find Your Matcha Match
You may have noticed we have 6 different grades of tea for you to try. With Matcha's rise in popularity, the market has become flooded with poorly-produced, low-quality, and inauthentic matcha. Mizuba has made it our mission to only focus on excellence from harvest to harvest each year. We consider it a blessing to be able to hand-pick each flavor profile to accommodate a variety of tastes! Here's a rundown of each flavor profile so you can make your pick:
Kokoro Ceremonial: our champagne of teas. Ideal for the discerning Matcha drinker & gourmand. A very special gift (even if for yourself!). Harvested by hand from plants 45+ years old. Exceptionally rich, smooth, and strikes at the heart of the purest of Japanese green teas.
Yorokobi Ceremonial Organic: harvested from a single estate of tencha on a volcanic hillside, Yorokobi is one of the ultimate organic matcha experiences. This matcha brings us much joy in how exceptionally smooth, balanced, and floral it is.
Nagomi Ceremonial Organic: harvested once a year from plants 35+ years old, this matcha is for those who love exceptionally bold, full-bodied flavors. Rich and robust, with a unique, slightly nutty tone to its flavor.
House Organic: harvested once a year, this tea is quite adaptable and is perfect for those wanting to make a matcha latte or iced matcha every day. Creamy and sweet, it stands up well to milk, honey, and ice. One of our most savory, umami-forward, earthy matchas.
Daily: Exactly as it sounds! We could not BELIEVE how amazingly sweet, fresh, rich, and satisfying this matcha is. The depth of flavor is exceptionally smooth in the mouth. We recommend enjoying it on its own - it needs not to communicate anything more. Make it your new habit, asap!
Culinary Organic Matcha: making smoothies, cookies, hummus (for real), salad dressing, cupcakes, or more? This is the matcha for you. We always put a teaspoon or so in our smoothies for all the incredible health benefits this matcha contains. Conveniently sized in 100-gram bags so you can make matcha treats to your heart's delight. This tea is a full-bodied, well-balanced flavor experience. We found that it exhibits a lush creaminess, which is balanced out by a savory, grassy sweetness.
Matcha Glossary
Steep yourself in Matcha know-how and terminology.
Tools:
Chasen - the bamboo whisk used to froth Matcha. Comes in 80, 100, & (rare) 120 tines. Mizuba only carries the highest-quality 120 prong chasen, which gives more surface area in order to fully aerate your tea.
Chashaku - the traditional bamboo scoop used to measure out Matcha.
Chawan - translated as “tea bowl.” Mizuba carries a variety of beautiful chawan!
Tea-Making Terms:
Koicha 濃茶 - “Thick style” Matcha, or a way to prepare high-quality Matcha with more tea powder (about 3-4 chashaku spoonfuls): double the amount used for usucha and use half the amount of water (2-3 ounces). The aim is to make the Matcha smoother and more viscous than frothy by stirring and kneading the tea with the chasen as opposed to whisking (see our how-to video). Usually reserved for the famed chanoyu tea ceremony.
Usucha 薄茶 - “Thin style” Matcha. Not necessarily a lower grade, but a more common way to prepare Matcha for everyday drinking. Approximately 1.5 chashaku spoonfuls (or 3/4 teaspoon) of powder and about 4-6 ounces of water. The goal is to whisk your Matcha to a creamy, frothy finish.
Tencha - the young leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant; the shade-grown leaves Matcha is made from. When the tea is ready to be picked, tencha leaves are steamed, dried, and cut to remove stems and to preserve the leaves. The leaves are then ground to a powder in order to create the prized product: Matcha.
Uji - the region in Japan where Mizuba Matcha is sourced. The city is located 15 minutes out of Kyoto by the Shinkansen, or bullet train. Famous for its beautiful and lush landscape, it is home to settings for scenes in The Tale of Genji, and its world-class quality of teas. There is an annual tea festival every year in early October.
Ishi-usu -the stone-mill used to carefully grind tencha tea leaves into the beautiful matcha powder. Learn all about the ishi-usu on our blog!