Matcha Products
Matcha Tea comes in four main grades. Indigo Herbs Organic Matcha Green Tea is the highest quality Matcha available. This Ceremonial Grade Matcha comes from the freshest delicate young tips and grown to the highest organic standards. While the lower grades of Matcha are good for cold drinks, latte’s and putting in foods, our Matcha powder is supreme for making into a delicious antioxidant rich tea as well as anything else you’d like. You can also choose from a lovely range of Matcha inspired blended teas from our guest products range.
The history and development of producing Japanese Matcha is a story of innovation, perfection and harmonic simple living. The tea plant Camellia sinensis is native to southern China and was brought to Japan in around the 7th to 10th century. While there are many different types of Green Tea throughout China and Japan, Matcha is generally considered to be the pinnacle of perfection of all the different varieties. The plant is coaxed through shading to produce a greener, more soft and subtle leaf. These are then picked in the first few days of May, processed and meticulously stone ground into powder.
Matcha became popular during the Song Dynsaty (10th–13th Century). The ceremony of making and drinking Matcha became an integral part of Zen Buddhism because of the belief that this highly refined tea could improve meditation and health. Generally, Matcha was highly prized and until later was only made available to nobility.
Camellia sinensis is native to east and south Asia, growing in tropical to sub-tropical climates. There are two different variants used for tea which are designated by either coming from China or coming from Assam in India. The tea plant itself can grow to about 3 meters in height if it is not trimmed for tea production and produces small white and yellow flowers. Leaves picked for tea are generally harvested when they are young with the best quality teas coming from the growing shoot. The age of the leaf at harvest will determine the quality of the tea.