Matcha: The Hidden History of Chinese Powdered Green Tea

Written by Jason Chen

History of Matcha

Matcha originated in China and became popular in the Tang Dynasty about 1,000 years ago. A common practice was to hold tea parties. Everyone – officials, dignitaries, the literati, even the masses – received their friends and relatives for tea. It was common for matcha brewing competitions to be held among tea lovers. The competitions judged tea quality as well as the skill of those brewing the tea.

At that time, Lu Yu was a famous tea scholar. Lu Yu wrote instructions for brewing Chinese matcha tea in his book, The Classic of Tea (Chájīng). His methods were comprehensive and considered aesthetically exquisite. From this book, we can tell that even 1,000 years ago, matcha was made in much the same way as it is today.

Matcha’s Journey to Japan

At about the same time, Japan was undergoing a period of great change. Because of their admiration for the culture of the Tang Dynasty, Japan dispatched a large number of envoys to China.

At the peak of the trend, there were thousands of travelers studying in China. Topics included writing, etiquette, architecture, clothing, politics, Buddhism, cuisine, and Chinese matcha tea brewing techniques (cha do). Their learnings developed into the Japanese method for preparing matcha and the Japanese Tea Ceremony.

Most of the envoys were sent to stay for long periods in China. They stayed in monasteries in Shaoxing, Yuhang, or Hangzhou, or temples in Chang’an (now Xi’an) to study Buddhism and the Tea Ceremony. On their return to Japan, they introduced Chinese tea varieties, which were planted in the Kyoto area. Over time, these plants became the current matcha tea varieties used today. Kyoto became the birthplace of Japanese matcha tea culture.

The development of Chinese tea went from powdered to whole leaf tea, and from tuancha (packed tea cakes) to loose tea. At first, the green tea processing method was either sun-drying or steaming. Gradually, two additional methods were developed, pan-firing and air-firing.

These changes occurred over hundreds of years with the efforts of many people, and they resulted in numerous new kinds of tea. Due to this abundance of new teas, China began to neglect the complex process of preparing matcha. Also, because of the Chinese civil war and economic recession, matcha tea in China gradually lost popularity. As a result, its production and use was almost completely lost.

Matcha Today

In today’s modern world, matcha’s unique, natural taste and delicious fresh qualities have begun to dominate the world tea market quickly and easily. Matcha can be mixed with steamed milk to make latte art, or used in the kitchen to make a wide variety of drinks and foods. The many ways of enjoying matcha continue to build its popularity.

Left: Our matcha tea garden in Shaoxing
Right: White chocolate matcha truffles (1)

Most people think that matcha originated in Japan, which is a pity. Actually, the birthplace of Matcha is Shaoxing, near the Hangzhou region in China. At CC Fine Tea we hope to change this perception.

CC Fine Tea’s Chinese Matcha Tea

As part of that effort, in 2006, we began to import Matcha from Royal Tea Village in Shaoxing into the United States. Mr. Okawa, who founded The Royal Tea Village in Shaoxing in 1993, is from Japan. He introduced eight Japanese matcha tea varieties to the Shaoxing Tea Plantation, and managed it in the Japanese production style. He improved the soil and growing methods in the Tea Village and was able to obtain organic certification.

Moreover, Royal Tea Village has its own tea factory, where the production and equipment is equivalent to those used in Japan. The plantation and factory work together, and make Matcha equal in quality to those made in Japan. Mr. Okawa retired in 2010, but the team he built has developed a new Chinese tea cultivar that produces better tea than ever before.

Now Royal Tea Village has 1,650 acres of tea gardens. More than 50% of the gardens have European and American organic certification. The certificates allow export to Japan, Germany and the rest of the EU, as well as America.

C C Fine Tea is exclusively authorized to import this matcha into the United States.

Further Reading

• Global Tea Hut’s Tea and Tao Magazine, issue 51, April 2016. This issue focuses on Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty. Specifically, his instructions for whisking tea in his Treatise on Tea, Dà Guān Chá Lùn
• Lu Yu’s Chájīng, The Classic of Tea (free download in Chinese at Project Gutenberg)

Image Source

1. Veganbaking.net from USA [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons