Matcha

Matcha is a finely granulated tea powder made from high-quality fresh tea leaves through processes such as steaming, rolling and drying; this tea powder is called matcha powder. According to textual research, records of matcha date back to the Wei and Jin dynasties. By the Tang and Song dynasties, matcha had become an indispensable mainstream beverage in people's daily lives. Although matcha was extremely popular for a time, it gradually disappeared in China in the late Ming dynasty.

Compared with the modern method of brewing tea, the way matcha is consumed combines both drinking tea and eating tea, and all the nutritional components in the tea leaves are taken into the human body, because matcha is made from selected young buds of spring tea, is not stirred and roasted, and uses the steam fixation method, ensuring that the chlorophyll in the tea leaves is not lost.

Zhan Luojiu, a professor in the Tea Department of Anhui Agricultural University, said: "Brewing tea means drinking its water extract; the tea leaves cannot dissolve in hot water. Tea leaves contain amino acids, proteins and other organic components. With matcha, you eat the entire tea leaf."

Matcha is the crystallization of the wisdom of the ancient Chinese. It has been 400 years since it disappeared. As competition in the tea consumption market grows increasingly fierce, some groups with forward-thinking awareness have begun to pay attention to matcha, this ancient yet novel tea product.

Fang Runping, director of the Agriculture Committee of Shitai County, Anhui Province, said: "In today's domestic and international tea markets, especially the consumer market, competition is becoming more and more intense. Green tea, black tea, yellow tea, white tea, dark tea and oolong tea have formed a buyer's market. Shitai County is a national green food tea raw material production base. How can its resource advantages be brought into play? At present, ordinary tea on the market can sell for 50 yuan/kg, while matcha can sell for 300 yuan/kg. The huge difference in profit made the Shitai County government optimistic about the matcha project. In 2004, Shitai County introduced its first matcha production line, and the 10 t of matcha powder produced that year was all exported to the United States. Production has grown severalfold for 3 consecutive years."

Shitai County currently has 667 hectares of matcha planting area under development, and more than 5,000 farming households supply raw materials for the matcha project. Matcha is highly esteemed in Europe and the United States as well as in Japan and South Korea. In the domestic market, 10% of matcha is used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries, 20% is used in beverage production and the tea ceremony, and 70% is used as a food additive.

The development of matcha has only just begun in China and is gradually being recognized and accepted by consumers. In response to market demand, Shitai County produces matcha products, which means that Shitai County's deep-processed tea products now have their own unique market competitiveness.

Matcha is mainly used as an intermediate product, such as for making cookies and bread, as well as in cosmetics production, but it has not yet truly entered households to be drunk as tea. As domestic consumers gain a further understanding of matcha, matcha will certainly enter households. Compared with the ancient matcha production process, matcha made through modern processes is finer; it is a kind of ultrafine powder that dissolves well in water and can also be brewed with cold boiled water.

Drinking tea is nothing unusual, but eating tea is somewhat novel. Shitai County has developed matcha, once forgotten by people, as a project, which can be regarded as opening up a new path. The reappearance of matcha in China has broadened the application fields of tea and found a new path for tea @#@136@#@ in mountainous areas. The reappearance of matcha in China will also trigger a transformation in tea production.