What is Matcha Tea?

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What is Matcha Tea?
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Matcha tea has its origins from China though it
is often called stone ground Japanese style green
tea, because basically, that is what it is.
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Matcha is a finely ground tea powder processed
from the special tea leaves of green tea. The
specially grown green tea leaves are covered or
shaded from direct sunlight. This shaded growth
stimulates an increase in the levels of
chlorophyll and causes the production of amino
acids or Theanine. This also causes the leaves to
become a darker shade of green.
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During harvest only the finest tea buds are
hand-picked, but instead of just rolling out the
leaves before drying, the leaves are laid out
flat to dry. This causes the dried out leaves to
crumble easily and can now be stone-ground to the
fine, bright green, talc-like powdery tea that
identifies as Matcha. To make 30 grams of matcha
green tea powder can take up to an hour of fine
grinding.  
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History
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Around 1191, Zen Buddhists brought green tea
loose leaf tea drinking to Japan. It was the
Japanese who perfected the methods to making
matcha powder tea as well as perfecting the
ceremonial tea preparation for important
ceremonies and gatherings of the upper echelons
of society from the 14th through the 16th
centuries in Japan.
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The Wonders of Matcha

• Today, it has been proven that the Zen monks were
  right after all and that drinking matcha tea can
  help to live a longer and stress-free lifestyle.
  It is no wonder that these monks were always calm
  and unstressed in their character. Matcha has the
  properties to enhance metabolism, reduce
  stress-inducing body chemicals, boost the immune
  system, lower cholesterol levels, and even fight
  cancer causing toxins.

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• Cancer fighter
•  
• Green matcha tea contains potent catechins or
  antioxidants that seek out and devour free
  radicals in the body. Matcha tea is known to
  contain EGCG or epigallocatechin gallate, a
  powerful anti-carcinogen. Drinking just one cup
  of green matcha tea a day contains 137 times the
  amount of antioxidants compared to a conventional
  cup of green tea.
•  

• Lowers bad cholesterol levels
•  
• Matcha tea is proven to significantly lower the
  total bad cholesterol concentrations in the body.

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• Lowers bad cholesterol levels
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• Matcha tea is proven to significantly lower the
  total bad cholesterol concentrations in the body.
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• Detoxifier
•  The chlorophyll mentioned earlier from shade
  grown green tea is the pigment responsible for
  giving the matcha tea its bright green color. It
  is also the pigment that detoxifies the body. The
  toxins it can normally remove or control are
  heavy metals, poisons, dioxins, and hormone
  disrupters.