Organic Japan Traditional Tea Ritual Matcha – Gift Tin 40g

Brew & Taste

This tea is smooth, balanced and rich in every way. It will captivate you with its slowly unfolding natural sweetness that leaves a long, pleasant aftertaste on the palate. It’s complemented by a subtle grassy note and improved by the silky, creamy texture. Such layered taste makes organic Matcha Hana the perfect choice for matcha latté or matcha desserts.

Origins

The history of matcha tea dates back to the Chinese Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). You might be interested to know that at that time people steamed and shaped tea leaves into tea bricks, mainly for easy storage and trade. If you then wanted to prepare this tea, you had to roast the brick, grind it into powder and then mix with hot water and salt.

The whisking of very finely ground leaves in hot water is known from the Sung Dynasty (960-1279AD). It is said that the ritual was adopted by Zen Buddhist monks and brought to Japan around 1191. And while ‘powdered tea’ slowly grew out of popularity overtime, in Japan matcha became an integral part of Zen monasteries and the upper social classes.

From there, matcha got more and more attention from tea gardens across the whole nation. One of them is in the Kagoshima region in southern Japan, which is now the second largest tea producer in the country, after Shizuoka. Kagoshima is riddled with active volcanoes that keep the soil fertile with volcanic ash. The subtropical climate with mild temperatures and high rainfall makes it a place literally destined for tea growers. A significant part of the tea plantations operate under organic farming and produce high-quality matcha valued for its rich flavor and aroma.

Matcha Hana from this region is a blend of leaves from different organic gardens, giving it a specific character and a vibrant, varied flavor. It was harvested in autumn when the tea leaves are at their most aromatic. Thanks to its careful selection and traditional processing, organic Matcha Hana offers a subtle sweetness, balanced umami notes and a light grassy note that will be appreciated by any lover of high-quality Japanese matcha.