Literally translated, matcha means “powdered tea”. Its top grade varieties are cultivated today in Japan where it appeared 1,000 years ago as a basic element of the tea ceremony. Today, it is an inherent part of the Japanese culinary culture, as a component of hot and cold drinks and in various pastries.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, matcha has become increasingly popular among people advocating conscious lifestyle around the world and has gained a reputation of one of the healthiest diet supplements.
Matcha offers the highest known value of cell-protecting antioxidants of any natural product, many times greater than goji berries, pomegranates or regular green tea. These antioxidants called catechins are believed to have powerful anticancerous properties. Matcha’s catechins have been found to increase thermogenesis, the body’s rate of burning calories by over 20% of daily energy expenditure. Caffeine contained within matcha provides a gentle energy boost that is balanced by L-theanine, an aminoacid proper to green tea with calming properties. The combination of both elements allows to reach a state of acute alertness and invigoration without a caffeine slump associated with coffee consumption.
What is the difference between matcha and regular green tea?
When drinking matcha, we consume whole leaves of green tea, and this way we supply our body with all the nutrients contained in tea (amino acids, minerals, vitamins, fibres and antioxidants). In the case of normally brewed tea, only 10-20% of these components are absorbed by the body (depending on the type of tea) because most of them are not soluble. This is the fundamental difference between matcha and all other teas.
Moya Matcha is a brand of authentic Japanese organic matcha grown in the Uji region of Kyoto Prefecture, known for the cultivation of highest quality green tea for over 800 years. The Uji region is famous for its fertile soils and clean water. The green tea plants there have ideal conditions for growth thanks to hills providing good sunlight, frequent mists that protect delicate leaves from frost and high amount of rainfall. Moya Matcha is meticulously cultivated and harvested on small family-owned organic tea fields. It is then processed locally in Japan, hermetically packaged and dispatched in small batches to assure peak freshness for all our grades. This helps preserve all the qualities of the tea leaf and maintain high levels of minerals and antioxidants.