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Powdered green tea, or “matcha” as it’s called in Japanese, is a green tea famous for it’s delicious flavor as well as health benefits. It is made from the leaves of shade grown tea trees. When the leaves are harvested they are steamed, dried and then further processed to remove the veins, stems and impurities. Only about 10% of the original harvest remains, and this is called the “tencha”.
Green tea was brought back to Japan by Japanese monks and nobles who visited China from in 800 AD. It spread in popularity amongst the upper classes and Buddhist monasteries. Japanese Zen Buddhist monks used their amazing skills as master herbalists over 800 (1161A.D.) years ago to create matcha. It was originally drunk before meditation to help with mental awareness and clarity. In the 16th century Zen Buddhist monks created the Japanese Tea Ceremony and it quickly became very popular.
Matcha’s flavour blends well in dairy-based recipes and its powder form makes it easy to work with. Matcha is being used in ice cream, cheese-cakes, cream cheese spreads, white chocolate, latte beverages, hot chocolate etc. There is no limit to the recipes that matcha can be added to.
Health Benefits
Matcha is just another form of green tea, so it has all the health benefits found in green tea. Regular green tea is a fantastic source of antioxident’s which have been shown to protect the body against free radicals that cause cancer. Green tea is already a better source than other much touted antioxident foods such as blue berries and chocolate. However, a serving of matcha has been shown to have up to 137 times the amount of antioxidents as regular green tea.
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微粉状绿茶，日语中叫“抹茶”，是一种以味美和养生闻名的绿茶。它是由荫栽茶树的叶子制成的。采下茶叶后，将其蒸青、干燥，然后深加工，去掉叶脉、梗和杂质。最后只有原来采摘量的10%被留下，被称为“碾茶”。
“碾茶”由石磨研成精细的粉末就是抹茶了。制一盎司抹茶大约需要一小时，如果研磨时间稍有不足，泡出来的茶就会有焦糊味。如今，最高品质的抹茶通常在日本茶道中使用。今天市面上能买到的大部分抹茶都是由精密机器研磨出来的，这样降低了成本，普通喝茶者也能负担得起了。抛开研磨技法不谈，生产抹茶还极耗费手工、技能和时间。
公元800年，访问中国的日本僧侣和贵族将绿茶带回了日本，很快就在上流社会和佛家寺庙中流行开来。800多年前（公元1161年），日本禅宗佛教的和尚用他们身为草药师的非凡技能制作出抹茶。起初抹茶是在坐禅前饮用的，来帮助清醒头脑。16世纪时，禅宗佛教和尚发明了日本茶道，抹茶便很快风行开来。
抹茶和奶制品混合起来的味道很好，粉末状也让它容易作为添加物。冰淇淋、奶酪蛋糕、奶油干酪片、白巧克力、拿铁饮料和热巧克力等等都可以添加抹茶。其他可以添加抹茶的食品还有很多很多。
养生功效
抹茶只是绿茶的一种形式，所以它具有绿茶所有的保健功能。普通绿茶是抗氧化剂的上好来源，据证实，抗氧化剂可保护人体免受致癌自由基的侵害。与其他一些被力捧的抗氧化食物如蓝莓和巧克力相比，绿茶是更好的来源。不过，据证实，一份抹茶所含的抗氧化剂的量比普通绿茶要高出137倍。
备注：
ounce 盎司（英制重量单位；常衡等于1/16磅，略作oz.；金衡或药衡等于1/12磅，略品脱）
serving （食物或饮料的）一份（一客）
