Our Matcha Story
Oct 6th 2016
A bowl of ceremonial grade matcha as served in our tea shop. The baked manju are locally made by Yume Confections and pair beautifully with this tea.
Heather studying Chado with Margie sensei at Issoan Tea School.
Margie Yap performing the Japanese Tea Ceremony on the waterfront in Portland, OR.
Tea leaves in Nishio used for making our ceremonial grade matcha.
Evaluating leaf grade at different stages of the matcha making process.
The hand-carved granite mill stones used for grinding the tencha into matcha.
The mills that grind the matcha (1 oz/ hour). They are kept in a climate controlled environment.
It’s pretty obvious that Matcha green tea is “huge” right now. Our sales of this powdered Japanese green tea are certainly reflecting that fact. However, one thing that seems to be getting lost in the buzz of Matcha’s rising popularity is that this extraordinary tea requires such great skill to grow, grind, and serve. The tradition and the ceremony are vanishing from the story of matcha.
At The Jasmine Pearl Tea Company, we not only have a deep love for Matcha green tea, but we have a reverence for the tradition of
Harmony
You see, for us, matcha isn’t a fad. Matcha isn’t just tea. Matcha is an experience. That experience starts with tea leaves that are grown and harvested with extraordinary care. The farmer works in harmony with the environment to grow, shade, and then harvest the most precious leaves from the tea bushes.
Respect
From there the tea is taken to the matcha makers. Our matcha manufacturers use the utmost respect when working with these prized tea leaves. Each batch of fresh tea is tested for flavor, and quality. Then the stems and leaves are meticulously removed, leaving only pure leaf material. Finally the tea is very slowly ground into a powder, using hand-carved granite mill stones – it takes one hour to grind one ounce of tea!
Purity
Finally, the tea shipped by air to us at The Jasmine Pearl Tea Company. Our focus when sourcing matcha is purity. We import only 100% pure matcha – with no fillers or color enhancers. Our matcha has been rigorously tested for caffeine, nutritional content, pesticides, and radiation.
Our Matcha Grades
Currently, we have carefully selected two sources for our matcha: Our Ceremonial Grade comes from the Aichi prefecture of Japan. Our culinary grade come from Kagoshima prefecture.
The Ceremonial Grade is intended for preparing using the traditional method, with a whisk and bowl.
Our Culinary Grade is for everyday drinking, adding to blended drinks, or for use as a high quality ingredient in dessert recipes.
Additionally, our Jasmine Pearl Matcha Latte Mix is blended on-site with cane sugar, fruit pectin, and our pure culinary grade matcha.
We encourage you learn more about matcha and the beauty and tranquility of Japanese Tea Ceremony by attending one of our monthly Chado demonstrations at The Jasmine Pearl Tea Company tea shop.
