Matcha is known as finely ground green tea from Japan, with very high antioxidant properties.  How did this unique tea come to be?

As we all know, tea drinking originated in China thousands of years ago.  Matcha also originated in China.  During the Sui Dynasty (581-618), Matcha was invented and reserved only for the emperor’s afternoon tea.  In the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Matcha production expanded, and matcha drinking became popular among the common people.  Matcha reached its full blossom in the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

Matcha disappeared from China during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) when Emperor Zhu Yuangzhang decided that the process for producing matcha was too complicated, and forbid its manufacture.  Instead of drinking tea powder, the Chinese people went to drinking tea from the leaves.

If Matcha disappeared from China, how did it flourish in Japan?  In 1191, a Japanese monk named Eisai (1141-1215) visited China to learn Zen, and became a Zen Master.  While he was there, Eisai sampled the matcha tea produced at that time.  He was dazzled by the taste, and the medicinal benefits, and learned the process for producing matcha.  He took both the matcha process, and Zen Buddhism back to Japan where the combination grew into the Japanese Tea Ceremony.

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