Seven Fun Facts You Didn’t Know About Matcha

Although a staple in Japan, matcha is just becoming known and popular in the United States. The green tea is a powder that offers plenty of health benefits to the user. Because it is a powder, you can use it many ways. You can make smoothies or tea or use as flavoring. You can enhance other foods you might be eating or drinking to get benefits from the powder. The ideas for how to use matcha in your daily routine are growing. Despite what you know about matcha, here are some facts about the matcha tea you might not know.

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1. Matcha Types Are Not the Same -- Wine experts know that good wine depends on the year, the grapes, the processing, the barrels and many other criteria. Good matcha is the same. Not all matcha types are created equal. It varies greatly in flavor and quality depending on how it’s grown, harvested and processed.

2. Japanese Bring Matcha to Parties -- In the United States, when you are invited to a party, you bring wine or a dessert. However, in Japan, guests often come to your door bearing matcha tea. This is considered a thoughtful and welcoming gift. Maybe, the tradition will start in the United States also.

3. It Has Chlorophyll  -- Black, green, white and matcha tea all come from the same plant, but matcha is consumed differently from the other teas. White, green, and black teas are all made from the buds and young leaves of the camellia sinesis plant. They are steeped in hot water using a tea bag or strainer and then discarded. You drink the tea, not eat the leaves. However, matcha is consumed as a ground tea leaf powder that is mixed with hot water. The growing method for matcha also requires extra care. A few weeks before harvesting, farmers cover the plants to keep them shaded from the sun. This concentrates the tea’s chlorophyll content, giving matcha its characteristic hue and higher nutrient content.

4. Matcha Used for Meditation -- Early in its history, matcha was used by Buddhist monks. They consumed matcha to stay calm, alert and focused during their long meditations. Many of the traditions begun by the monks are still practiced today.

5. Matcha Was Formal -- Because it was a special tea, Japanese used to use matcha in a formal ceremony. The tea ceremony was a three- to five-hour experience built on the principles of harmony, respect, purity and tranquility. You have go through a specific set of procedures that take years to master to conduct this tea ceremony. The goal of the ceremony is to have guests live in the moment and be humble.

6. Celebrities Drink Matcha -- In the United States, if celebrities use something, it immediately begins a trend. That is becoming true for matcha. Because Gwenyth Paltrow has begun drinking it, everyone is trying matcha.

7. Put Matcha In Ice Cream -- Although it is mostly drunk as tea, more and more people are adding it to ice cream, smoothies and desserts. Try adding some to a banana and date smoothie or sampling matcha mochi ice cream, which is available at some health food stores. A search will find a number of recipes for using matcha that were not considered in other countries.