Matabay, Author at Matcha Tea from MATABAY

Consuming matcha in the form of ice-cream may not be the best way to benefit your body but it is anyway a better alternative than splurging on the regular ice cream or dessert..

It is a well known fact that sugary treats can always act as relaxing agents when you are under a lot of stress, so you can always combine matcha with certain sweets and make a truly healthy and calming amalgamation. Apart from the taste and health benefits, matcha gives your food a beautiful green color making it look pleasing to the eye as well. Japanese people are experts in making matcha flavored desserts and matcha is not only available in the form of ice-cream but also in other forms such as puddings, cheesecakes, muffins, brownies and many more.

Cocoa matcha brownies

The ideal way to lead a healthy life is by consuming your food in a completely raw form. Cocoa matcha brownie is a delectable raw food that will entice all your taste buds. It is very easy simple to make this dish. It is not only packed with nutrients and antioxidants, but is delicious as well.

Matcha green tea muffin

The ultimate way to start your day is by having some delicious matcha green tea muffins. It will not only satisfy your craving for sweets but will also provide you with some very essential nutrients. The stunning green color and awesome taste of these green tea muffins is a perfect breakfast-time treat.

Matcha pudding

Matcha pudding is a very rich dessert and has a heavenly taste. It has a highly concentrated amount of matcha powder and has very light amount of sugar which makes it a very healthy option. The best thing about matcha is the fact that unlike the other forms of tea which require sugar, milk, lemon and other items, matcha can be consumed all by itself. It is a tea which is unique in every way with its savory taste, rich antioxidants and amino acids.

Consuming matcha in the form of dessert is a good option as long as you don’t compromise on the concentration of matcha and keep the sugar quotient under control. It will detoxify your body and boost your energy levels while making you feel active.

Is tea good for high blood pressure? An absolute yes! Green Tea has a lot more to it than just being a favorite drink among the Japanese. The health benefits that green tea offers are phenomenal. One of the crucial benefits of consuming green tea is that it helps in counter-acting heart disease and lowering blood pressure.

What researchers say

Studies have shown that drinking green tea everyday can bring about a drop in high blood pressure. A research was conducted on 111 women and men with a blood pressure of 115-150 mm Hg. One set was made to drink 3 cups of tea everyday and the other set of people were made to consume 3 cups of caffeine-rich beverage without flavonoids. The experiment was conducted for a period of 6 months and their blood pressure levels were closely monitored. The results showed that the lot who drank tea had shown a reduction in blood pressure variation by ten percent at night. Since both of the beverages had caffeine in it, the component that made the difference was flavanoid which is present in tea.

Another large scale study conducted by Ohsaki researchers observed the effects of green tea on Japanese adults of ages 40-75. The study monitored the health of these adults who were given varying amounts of green tea for a period of 11 years. The results showed that the individuals who drank more green tea were better protected from cardiovascular diseases. Also 31% fewer deaths by cardiovascular diseases were noted among women who drank above 5 cups of green tea every day when compared to those who had less than a cup of it. Green Tea is a good choice if you’re looking at improving your cardiovascular health.

How it works

One of the main causes for high blood pressure is ACE i.e angiotension converting enzyme which is secreted in the kidneys. Green tea acts as an ACE inhibitor and reduces blood pressure. Green tea also helps to counter heart disease. In fact its effects are known to be just as satisfying as prescribed drugs. One of the main causes of stroke is when LDL, commonly known as bad cholesterol, undergoes oxidation and forms blood clots. Green tea inhibits the formation of these blood clots and protects you against heart attacks.

The next time you ask yourself, is green tea good for high blood pressure, don’t look back for green tea is definitely one of your best bets against fighting cardiovascular diseases.

More commonly considered a healthy drink, green tea powder is also an interesting ingredient that you could use in your recipes. While cooking, green tea is usually incorporated in a powdered form. Green tea powder can be used in a variety of recipes both sweet and savory. Its allure lies in the fact that it complements any ingredient that it is paired with and does not overpower the flavor of the dish.

How to use green tea powder for cooking

Green tea is often used to even out sodium-rich food or those that are sweet in flavor. Being the versatile ingredient that it is, green tea powder can be used to whip out some truly gastronomic recipes. Here are some pointers while using green tea powder for cooking:

Green tea powder is commonly paired with salads, fruits, poultry and seafood. It also shares a good compatibility with ingredients like rice, ginger, honey, lemon, sesame and cream.
Powdered green tea can be used as a rub for meats. While barbecuing meats, powdered green tea reduces any carcinogens that might form on the charred meat.
Green tea powder also makes for an excellent spice in savory recipes. Sometimes it is infused with flour in meager amounts.
Green tea powder can also be incorporated in sauces and salad dressings to give it a unique flavor. It is often used as a garnish.
You can use green tea powder to whisk out stews and broths with an interesting twist.
In desserts, cocoa powder can be substituted with green tea powder. A rule of thumb is to replace it with green tea powder that is two-thirds the amount of cocoa that was to be used.
Another common technique used is to infuse green tea powder with milk and cream to whip out delicious green tea smoothies, lattes and ice creams.
Green tea is often used while baking. From truffles to cupcakes to macaroons, accommodating green tea powder in your traditional baking recipe adds a zing to it!

Health benefits of green tea powder

Being rich in nutrients, chlorophyll and anti-oxidants, green tea has many health benefits. The chlorophyll present in it purifies the blood of unwanted impurities. The anti-oxidants act as cancer-fighting agents and protect the body from chronic diseases. For those who believe that food can heal, using green tea powder for cooking can be a dream come true!

The regular cup of green tea that you have, although healthy, doesn’t have the potential to absorb all its nutrients. In fact, we consume only a fraction of it. When you whisk out a cup of hot water and brew your green tea in it, a majority of the nutrients are still trapped inside the tea leaves. This is where matcha has an edge. Since it is made by finely ground tea leaves, a cup of matcha lets you savor all the nutrients present in the tea leaves to the last drop.

Health benefits of matcha

Here are some matcha health factors that make a difference:

Matcha is one of those glorious teas that energizes and calms you. The presence of caffeine in this tea makes you alert and keeps you awake. Combined with this is the effect of amino acids that soothe you. So unlike coffee, it gives you a consistent energy boost for about six hours, that doesn’t crash!
Matcha has an enormous amount of anti-oxidants in it. These anti-oxidants protect you from free radicals that cause aging. It prevents chronic diseases and also acts as a cancer-fighting agent. Matcha even beats blueberries and pomegranates when it comes to its huge anti-oxidant reserves!
The sun’s UV rays damage the skin cells and can make you susceptible to skin cancer. Consuming matcha makes you resistant to the harmful effects of the sun’s UV rays.
You can now bid good bye to those weight-loss regimes and lose weight by simply sipping a delicious cup of tea. Sounds too good to be true? Well it isn’t! Scientists have found that drinking this green tea increases your metabolism and your body’s energy expenditure in turn. Matcha has the ability to burn calories without physically exerting yourself.
The abundant amounts of chlorophyll in matcha give it its signature green color. The chlorophyll acts as an excellent detoxifying agent and cleanses the body of harmful chemicals and impurities.

Owing to the myriad benefits matcha health factors have to offer, it is rightfully referred to as the super-hero among green teas. A cup of matcha has the health benefits of drinking over ten cups of regular green tea!

There are 4 ways to make and enjoy fine Sencha.

One, Make Sencha for casual tea drinking, in where you

put 9g (0.32oz) of tea leaves for a serving of 3 (180ml (6.09oz) of water) into your tea pot.
pour boiling water into the tea cups.
wait for 10 to 15 seconds, pour the tea contents into the tea pot. Brew time is 60 seconds.
Make sure you pour all of the Sencha tea into the cups, including the last drop!

To enjoy the full potential of Sencha in the Sencha ceremony style

(*note there are many styles, and this is only one of them)

use a smaller teapot and smaller cups. Use 6g (0.21 oz) of tealeaves for a serving of three
use 75ml (2.53oz) of hot water cooled to 70℃ (158ºF)
brew for 60 to 70 seconds.

The 3rd way to make Sencha teais a summer treat.

Use 6g (0.21oz) of Sencha tea leaves in a smaller Kyusu (teapot).
then fill the kyusu with ice (for good ice, boil water for 5 min, cool it, and make the ice cubes using that water).
Make sure you pack as much ice in there as possible! Let the ice melt.
Once most of the ice has melted, your tea is ready to drink (this will make two small servings).

The final way to Make Sencha

use 15g of Sencha tea leaves, and put it in a 1 liter (33.8oz) pitcher or water bottle.
Fill the bottle or pitcher with water (33.8oz).
put it in the refrigerator over night.
In the morning, you will have some amazing ice cold Sencha.

The Featured tea of the month is History of Gyokuro tea.

The history of Gyokuro tea begins in 1835, during the Edo period. Yamamoto Kahei (the sixth) was a well known tea merchant from Nihonbashi, Edo (currently Tokyo), and he often traveled to Kyoto to buy and study tea. On one of his travels to Uji, to study the Tencha process, he visited the Kinoshita family. Many of the tea farmers from Uji, including Kinoshita, covered their tea leaves with straw to protect the leaves from frost, and it was said that that year the winter was longer, and much protection was needed. Yamamoto Kahei noticed that tea leaves from the Kinoshita family became “sticky” in the shaping process. Not knowing what to think of this, he shaped the tea leaves into little pellets, and gave it a try. He was amazed at the flavor, and immediately repeated the process. He then took the tea back to Edo and sold it as a tea named Tamano Tsuyu (Jewel of Dew). which became an instant hit. However, no matter how hard he tried to replicate the process after that trip, he ended up with something different than what he had at Uji (he ended up developing a different tea in the process). It was a man by the name of Eguchi Shigejuro from Uji that saw what the key was (covering the tea leaves), and completed the method of creating Gyokuro. This process was further refined by Tsujiri Emon (the founder of Tsujiri tea, who is most known for the development of the Chabako (tea boxes), and for making Uji tea a national brand by improving trade channels and tea transportation) in the Meiji Era.

How Gyokuro is Made

The process of making Gyokuro starts out similar to Sencha. However, as the first shoots of tea start to appear in April, the entire Gyokuro field/plantation is covered (by straw or by a black mesh cloth) to block the sun.

By shutting out the direct sunlight, the tea farmers are able to reduce the rate of photosynthesis, resulting in high levels of theanine, the amino acid responsible for the full-bodied, less bitter tea that has a hint of sweetness.

Gyokuro Tea of Uji Kyoto

Gyokuro tea in Uji, is prepared a little differently than many places in Japan. First, you tend to use a lot of tea leaves compared to the amount of water used, resulting in one serving being 20ml. Although you only get a few sips, once you try drinking Gyokuro this way, you will see why.

The first infusion is prepared with water between 50 to 60C, is brewed slow, and is packed with full flavor (umami), and sweetness. The second infusion, prepared with hotter water, is where you enjoy the earthy bitterness of the tea.

Fresh Gyokuro Tea Supply

While supply lasts, all of our Gyokuro is Shincha Gyokuro (the most fresh of the first flush teas) which have been picked in plantations owned by family, or by those with very close family ties. We only use the First Flush (or first pick) tea leaves for all of our teas, but the first shipment of the first harvesting, is the absolute finest out of the year. For those looking to expand their horizons in the culinary world, understanding the best business georgia can provide valuable insights into local markets and opportunities that align with high-quality products like ours.

Don’t miss this opportunity to enjoy this extra fresh Gyokuro!

Matcha is one of the most famous of the Japanese teas. Made from Tencha (Gyokuro leaves, dried, yet not “rolled”), the leaves are ground to a fine powder using a stone mill. The powder is so fine, that it dissolves into the hot water.

traditional tea ceremony

This is the tea that is served in formal and traditional tea ceremony, and nowadays is often used in a variety of sweets, pastries, cakes, and Matcha based drinks.

Type of Matcha Green Tea

Matcha is divided into three categories: 1) Koi-cha (thick tea), which is used in formal tea ceremony, in where the tea is so thick it is almost a paste. 2) Usu-cha (thin tea), which is used in tea ceremony, used as a tea to serve guests, and is what is served in the Zen Temples. The tea is served “thinner”, or “lighter”, making it a smooth beverage that is easy to drink. 3) Cooking Matcha is the lowest grade of Matcha, but works wonders in cooking, and is often used for those who want to practice their Matcha whisking, but do not want to waste expensive tea.

Grade of Matcha Green Tea

The higher the grade of the Matcha, the Matcha is sweeter, mellower, has more aroma, and the color is a deeper green. As an interesting fact, Koi-cha powder is often used to make Usu-cha, due to its superior flavor, color, and aroma, and Usu-cha is sometimes used for cooking and making Matcha based beverages, but it does not work the other way around. If you use Usu-cha powder to make a Koi-cha, you will end up with a bitter bowl of Matcha, and if you use cooking Matcha to make Usu-cha, you may be very very disappointed.

Matabay specializes in Matcha. Our tea plantation only grows tealeaves for Matcha, and the leaves are exclusively for Koi-cha powder. Meaning, we make the highest grade of Matcha, which is used for some of the most expensive but most amazing blends of Matcha, to be sold only to the most exclusive list of customers.

Blended Matcha Green Tea

One key point is that Matcha is a blended tea. You do not make the tea based on the tealeaves from one tea plantation/farm. The tea blender first chooses a base tealeaf, and then little by little, blends in tealeaves from other plantations to create the perfect balance, harmony, and flavor. For the high class Matcha, only the absolute finest leaves from the best crop, made in exclusive farms, made by the hands of experienced tea masters, are delicately blended to create a magical tea. This is why high quality Matcha is very limited in supply, tends to be expensive, and is very hard to come by.

In opening our doors to the public market for the first time in 126 years, we have worked on creating an exclusive Matcha based on the leaves we make in our plantations. Based on our best leaves of the season, the tea blender looked for leaves that would compliment the sweetness and mellowness of our leaves. The result was an outstanding blend that, if were to be sold in the traditional tea market, would be ranked amongst the most prestigious teas.

The reason why we will only be offering this tea as an exclusive Matcha to tea-of-japan.com is simple. If we were to fulfill our minimum quota to the suppliers, which is needed to make other high class blends, and we were to offer our blend to the traditional market, there would be no tea left to offer to you! Unfortunately we are only able to make enough tea of this quality to satisfy our obligations, and enough to satisfy the needs of one other market, and we chose you.

High Grade Matcha Green Tea

We feel it is extremely unfortunate, and we are ashamed, that very little high grade Matcha ever leaves Japan. We feel that in many cases, there are more tea lovers world wide that are more appreciative of fine teas, compared to the domestic market, and we feel that such fans have been under appreciated. We want the fans of Japanese tea world wide to get a chance to enjoy the finest quality. Since the traditional tea market will not change overnight, and considering that there are other high-class teas that the domestic market can enjoy, we would like to take the step, and present this tea to the tea lovers of the world, directly, as an exclusive tea. Naturally, all of the Matcha offered at Matabay, are truly of the highest quality.

We strongly believe that you will not find finer Uji Matcha at a lower price anywhere else, no matter what they claim. We hope that you will give our exclusive Matabay Matcha a try, because we firmly believe that you will fully understand what we mean when we say Matcha is our pride, our passion, and our life.

Visit our Matcha Gree Tea selection for a wide variery of products.

How to Make Matcha Green Tea

Preparing Matcha tea is a fine art. If you go into the ceremonial aspect, which is both beautiful yet practical, the lesson could last years. There are many different styles of tea ceremony, and each has their own methods and rules, so here we will just go into the basics on how to make a fine Usu-cha tea.

One Note concerning the tea recipes video

In this video, the green tea powder is scooped directly from the Natsume (the green tea powder “case”). Please note that the tea was sifted into the Natsume, thus it appears as if we are skipping a step. If you do not have your tea pre “sifted”, it is highly recommended that you sift the tea into the bowl with a fine mesh sifter.

Preparing Hojicha is probably the most casual of all.

Making Hojicha

Hojicha is a is not a “tightly packed” tea, so it may look as if you are putting twice as many tea leaves in the pot, but due to the fact that it is light in weight (about half the weight of Sencha), don’t be shy about using a nice heap. To make a pot for 4 or 5, use 3 large teaspoons worth of Hojicha. Use boiling water, and feel free to pour it directly onto the tea leaves. Brew time is 30 seconds.

Making outstanding Gyokuro tea

How to make outstanding Gyokuro tea, is in temperature control and brew time. DO NOT prepare as you would prepare Sencha.

Water should be no hotter than 60℃ (140ºF), brew time is 120 to 150 seconds, and you should only use 20 to 25ml of water per serving. Consume in small sips. Use 9g to 10g for serving 3 cups (20ml x 3), or 4 to 5grams, if just making one. For second and third infusions, use hotter water, and a shorter (30 to 40 seconds) brew time.

Matcha green tea, genmai tea fresh from Kyoto Japan

Matcha for Dessert