About Our Tea

We here at Matcha Yu Tea are thrilled to offer two carefully selected Matcha Green Tea Varieties for you to enjoy. 

Both our Premium Matcha & Everyday Matcha has been grown and picked in the fields of Kagoshima, a mountainous region in Southern Kyushu in Japan, famous for producing top-quality Matcha. 

What is the the Matcha Yu Tea difference?

We order our tea monthly from Japan and it is freshly milled to order. Rest assured, what you receive will always be fresh and has been milled quite recently.

We only offer First Harvest Spring Matcha (picked each year in May) which means the youngest, freshest most nutritionally rich leaves are picked for you to enjoy

Once the tea has arrived in Australia, we refrigerate it to maximise freshness and ensure it is protected from air, light, heat and moisture.

Matcha Green Tea from Kagoshima, Kyushu Japana 

WHAT ARE THE MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THESE TWO TEAS?


Difference between Everyday and Premium Matcha

MATCHA - THE BASICS!

Matcha (抹茶) is created when the leaves from shade-grown green tea are hand-picked then ground down to produce a wonderful bright green tea powder.

The young tender leaves are steamed and dried immediately after harvest to retain their freshness. The next step is sorting and de-stemming to obtain the raw material required for Matcha called Tencha.  

Tencha is blended and then refrigerated to then be ground traditionally in a stone mill.

   Matcha first originated in China in the 8th Century and then made its way over to Japan in the 12th Century by the founder of Zen Buddhism, Myoan Eisai who brought tea seeds for cultivation. 

Bringing Matcha from China to Japan

 

Matcha became popular with the samurai warrior class with monks giving Matcha to samurai as a pre-battle drink to increase energy and endurance.

In the 16th Century, Sen No Rikyu was a great tea master who defined the rituals of the Japanese tea ceremony (otherwise known as Cha-no-yu) which then became well established as part of the Japanese culture.

Since then it has been enjoyed in Japan for its rich flavour but in the last few years it's  caught the rest of the world by storm in a huge way. 

From Matcha Lattes to ice cream to cakes and more, Matcha is not going away anytime soon!

We are so thankful that the world can appreciate and access high quality Matcha outside of Japan for all to enjoy. 

Now...let's not forget Matcha's hip sidekicks...

Hojicha Powder

Houjicha Roasted Green Tea Powder Matcha Yu
Hojicha (ほうじ茶 ) (which also can be spelt Houjicha) is roasted Japanese green tea and emerged early in the 20th century in Kyoto when tea merchants began roasting leaves over charcoal.

The roasting process has a decaffeinating effect on the leaves, making Hojicha a tasty low-caffeine alternative for tea enthusiasts.

The roasting process also changes the flavour of the tea. With a nutty taste, Hojicha is a unique tea in that it has a “roast” flavour that no other tea has. Interestingly enough, this flavour makes Hojicha taste quite a bit like freshly roasted coffee. 

Hojicha is most commonly made with bancha, although it is also made with sencha and kukicha tea leaves as well. 

Our Hojicha is also sourced from Kyushu and is made from Sencha tea leaves, cut after its first harvest.

It has a lovely aromatic flavour and makes a very pleasant tasting experience. 

Hojicha is perfect to use to make a latte, in baking, smoothies, ice cream and more! 

Matcha Genmaicha Green Tea

 Genmaicha is a Japanese brown rice green tea consisting of green tea mixed with roasted popped brown rice. 

Our Matcha Genmaicha contains Matcha powder that lightly dusts the Roasted Genmaicha Tea, giving it freshness and depth of flavour.  The Matcha adds a grassy, fresh, slightly sweet taste to the flavour profile.  Drink on its own with water to enjoy. 

 All our tea comes packaged in home compostable packaging by Econic. You can pop straight into your compost or bury it in your backyard! A win for you and Planet Earth!