Matcha powder is possibly Japan’s most widely known tea and it is not difficult to see why it has achieved such fame.  It differs from standard green tea well before it has even been plucked.  The tea from which matcha is made is grown under shade as it is only through denying sunlight that the growth is slowed-down sufficiently to ensure tender leaf and maximum chlorophyll (hence a deep green colour in the final product).  The leaf is plucked and processed into steamed tea, following which it is milled into a very fine powder.  It is the fact that it is in powder form that makes the tea so distinctive.

In order to brew matcha, a very small teaspoon of the powder is put into a bowl, hot water is added and the ‘soup’ is whisked vigorously.  When the liquor reaches a froth then it should be drunk more of less immediately.  The pleasures are in the foamy head (saying it is a tea version of a cappuccino would horrify the manufacturers but is not a million miles away), the delicately nutty taste, and of course the kick as you are actually swallowing the powder that has been infused.  This description does not really do justice to the pomp and solemnity of the process as it is designed to be an integral element of the Japanese tea ceremony, and certainly not the sort of thing that you offer to make for your colleagues in the office unless you have a spare afternoon.