識 飲 識 食 Eat The Best
The green tea is an umbrella term generally referred to dried tea leaves without going through the fermentation process. The most popular green tea includes Sencha, Longjing, Gyokuro, Biluochuan, Huangshan Maofeng and many others. A kind of green tea, Matcha is a bright-green, super-fine ground powder made from tea buds completely shaded before harvest. (1) Tea Plantation Technique Prior to harvest, tea buds for making premium Matcha are protected from the shade-grown technique which enhances the quality, flavour, color and nutrition benefits of the resulting Matcha. With the changes in the growth cycle of tea, the shading rate will be gradually increased. When the new tea buds spread 1-2 leaves, the shading rate will reach to about 70%, and then the sun-shade nets will be used. As the leaves gradually spread out, the shading rate reaches to about 95-98. As sunlight has been blocked out, it will reduce the rate of photosynthesis, resulting in high levels of theanine, catechin and amino acid in tea leaves . That’s why Matcha has a full-bodied flavour. (2) Fixation As opposed to the traditional high temperature frying, Matcha produced by the “steam fixation”method can prevent the original ingredient from being oxidized during the process while removing the grass scent to purify its aroma and retaining its nutrients. (3) Milling Condition Refined milling causes the loss of flavour and colour in the process. The more rapid the milling, the higher the temperature is, making the fading of the matcha’s flavour and its colour unavoidable. The mouth-feel sensation of Matcha greatly depends on the fineness of the powder. The more refined the powder, the smoother its texture is. (4) Pure Ingredients To make sure that you have selected 100% pure Matcha, check out if any green tea powder, sugar and milk powder are on the ingredient list. (5) Safe and Pesticide Free Organic Matcha is a safer choice for consumers. Matcha is milled from whole leaves. If the source contains pesticide residues, Matcha drinkers may have a higher intake of pesticide residues than other drinkers of non-ground teas.
Natural Foods Buyer’s Guide
|
19
