About Our Tea
Matcha (抹茶) is created when the leaves from shade-grown green tea are hand-picked then ground down to produce a wonderful bright green tea powder.
The young tender leaves are steamed and dried immediately after harvest to retain their freshness. The next step is sorting and de-stemming to obtain the raw material required for Matcha called Tencha.
Tencha is blended and then refrigerated to then be ground traditionally in a stone mill.
Matcha first originated in China in the 8th Century and then made its way over to Japan in the 12th Century by the founder of Zen Buddhism, Myoan Eisai who brought tea seeds for cultivation.
Matcha became popular with the samurai warrior class with monks giving Matcha to samurai as a pre-battle drink to increase energy and endurance.
In the 16th Century, Sen No Rikyu was a great tea master who defined the rituals of the Japanese tea ceremony (otherwise known as Cha-no-yu) which then became well established as part of the Japanese culture.
Since then it has been enjoyed in Japan for its rich flavour but has only recently caught the rest of the world by storm.
We here at Matcha Yu Tea are thrilled to offer the following Matcha Green Tea Varieties for you to enjoy.
Both our Premium Matcha & Everyday Matcha has been grown and picked in the fields of Kagoshima, a mountainous region in Southern Kyushu in Japan, famous for producing top-quality Matcha.
Sometimes it can be quite difficult to access this kind of high quality & "Umami" (full-bodied) flavoured Matcha outside of Japan.
We have established a well-trusted partnership with our Japanese tea suppliers to ensure you receive the best quality Matcha wherever you are located.
And let's not forget Matcha's hip sidekicks...
Hojicha Powder
The roasting process has a decaffeinating effect on the leaves, making Hojicha a tasty low-caffeine alternative for tea enthusiasts.
The roasting process also changes the flavour of the tea. With a nutty taste, Hojicha is a unique tea in that it has a “roast” flavour that no other tea has. Interestingly enough, this flavour makes Hojicha taste quite a bit like freshly roasted coffee.
Hojicha is most commonly made with bancha, although it is also made with sencha and kukicha tea leaves as well.
Our Hojicha is also sourced from Kyushu and is made from Sencha tea leaves, cut after its first harvest.
Hojicha is perfect to use to make a latte, in baking, smoothies, ice cream and more!
Matcha Genmaicha Green Tea
Genmaicha is a Japanese brown rice green tea consisting of green tea mixed with roasted popped brown rice.
Our Matcha Genmaicha contains Matcha powder that lightly dusts the Roasted Genmaicha Tea, giving it freshness and depth of flavour. The Matcha adds a grassy, fresh, slightly sweet taste to the flavour profile. Drink on its own with water to enjoy.
All our tea comes packaged in home compostable packaging by Econic. You can pop straight into your compost or bury it in your backyard! A win for you and Planet Earth!