What’s up, you guys? I’ve got up to the minute tea information for you! The other day, instead of my usual cup of organic oolong tea, I met up with some friends and we had a tea ceremony. We had a special green tea I’d never had before, called matcha tea. It was delicious and super healthy, and I knew you would want to know all about it.

Matcha green tea is a traditional tea from Japan. If you’re ever in Japan and involved in a formal tea ceremony, chances are you’re going to be served matcha. But it’s popular all over the world as well—it may be the most popular green tea on the market today.

Unlike regular green tea, matcha is not a loose leaf tea. Instead, it is crushed into an extremely fine emerald green powder, which is stirred into hot water and made into a frothy drink with a grassy flavor. There is not tea infuser or strainer needed, as the powder blends into the water and is drunk completely.

Because the tea leaves are actually drunk, matcha has an even higher concentration of antioxidants and other healthy stuff than any other kind of tea. This makes it probably the healthiest kind of tea out there!

But that’s not all. Matcha contains protein, fiber, iron, calcium, potassium, as well as vitamins A, B1, B2, and C, which are all important to staying healthy and looking young. But here’s the best part—matcha tea contains nearly ten times the antioxidants of other teas, 70 times more than orange juice, and four times the beta-carotene of carrots. It even has nine times that of spinach, so watch out Popeye! People call it “superfood.” I guess you can see why!

Matcha gives you an energy boost without a lot of caffeine, meaning you stay alert with  less jitters. It helps you stay calm and relaxed, lowers blood pressure, stabilizes blood sugar levels, and serves as a powerful antibiotic. It can even lower your cholesterol and ease symptoms caused by PMS. They say those magic antioxidants even help fight cancer! Amazing!

So whether you’re invited to a tea ceremony or not, I suggest you seek out some Matcha tea and drink it often. It will keep you looking young and feeling healthy. Which, you know, who minds that, you know?

Take it easy, you guys, and keep on drinkin’ on!

Tags: ceremonial tea, ceremony, energy, formal, Green Tea, healthy, Japan, Matcha, tea, tea leaves

This entry was posted on Monday, September 15th, 2008 at 12:36 am and is filed under Brewing Tea, Choosing Tea, Informational, Tea Types. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.