All you need to know

What is matcha tea?
What are its benefits?
Why drink it?

Matcha green tea is a very special type of green tea from Japan. The Japanese characters used for matcha are : 抹茶

Which literally means “crushed tea”.

Looking for peace and inner serenity? Maybe you’re a fan of green tea? Maybe you love discovering new flavors and good organic products?

Maybe you’re interested in Zen and the tea ceremony? Or even the longevity of Okinawan centenarians? Or just curious 🙂

Glad to see you here! I’m Val from Kumiko Matcha and I’d like to welcome you to the world of premium, organic matcha tea from Japan 🇯🇵 I created Kumiko Matcha in 2013 to (re)discover real, authentic and delicious organic matcha, and to contribute to a more conscious, healthier, ethical way of life.

I have a very special relationship with the passage of time, because when I was 17 I had a heart attack. And a second one at 19. For several years I lived as if each day was my last, and I learned a lot from this gift of life. My main lesson from this experience (and my message to you) is to live each day as if it were my last, and as if I were going to live for a very long time…

It’s a mirror image of Kumiko Matcha’s slogan: “Eternal beauty, now”. That’s because “Kumiko” is a Japanese first name meaning “eternal beauty”. This is the essence of Kumiko. All that beauty can represent: a magical moment, inner beauty, design, looks, a morning ritual… forever and in the present moment.

Why drink matcha green tea?

Matcha tea is both new and the result of over 800 years of know-how handed down from generation to generation in Japan. It’s new, and you probably didn’t know about it because it was hidden. In the days of the samurai, matcha was a treasure reserved for the Emperor of Japan. Japanese Zen Buddhist monks drank matcha tea for their meditations. The highest classes of Japanese society used it as a remedy. And today, matcha is only just beginning to become popular in the West!

Drinking a good organic matcha tea is first and foremost a moment of personal pleasure, in a simple preparation (although you’ll need to learn the technique). A soothing, luxurious ritual with beautiful colors and objects. It’s about taking time for yourself, taking a step back. It’s a pleasant, convivial moment that can also be shared.

The ideal way to enter this world is with a Japanese matcha tea set, which contains a tin of premium organic matcha tea and bamboo utensils for preparation.

What is matcha?

Matcha tea is a green tea grown and produced in a unique way by artisan growers in Japan. The leaves are not infused, but rather finely ground into a very delicate powder. This powder is mixed with hot water in a matcha bowl, using a special utensil called a chasen (a matcha whisk made from a single piece of bamboo). The entire tea leaf is consumed, providing a phenomenal amount of antioxidants: 137x more than in brewed tea!

What are the benefits of matcha tea?

Matcha tea offers numerous health benefits.

From one cup per day (i.e. 1g of tea), matcha :

  • Boosts concentration and improves mood thanks to the combined action of theine and L-Theanine (an amino acid found in tea)
  • Helps reduce mental fatigue and increase alertness.
  • Improves and supports cognitive function thanks to its rich flavonoid content and the quinic acid in green tea
  • Has antioxidant effects: the polyphenols contained in matcha help protect the skin, tissues and cells against free radicals (induced by UV rays, radiation, tobacco, atmospheric pollution…).
  • Helps protect teeth and reduce plaque
  • Helps maintain normal blood glucose levels as part of a healthy lifestyle
  • Helps maintain healthy intestinal flora and improves the bacterial flora beneficial to our organism
  • Helps maintain heart health
  • Moisturizes and helps refresh body and mind.

From three cups a day (i.e. 3 to 4g of tea), matcha :

  • Can help control weight as part of a healthy diet, combined with exercise
  • Helps speed up metabolism thanks to EGCG, a powerful antioxidant compound found in tea
  • Stimulates lipid breakdown and fat oxidation
  • Helps maintain blood lipids and cholesterol at a healthy level.

The umami taste of genuine organic premium matcha is equally delicious. 😋

What flavour is matcha tea?

Compared to other teas, matcha has a distinctive taste and appearance. Resembling cocoa powder with an electric green color, matcha has a unique flavor, evoking a blend of young green shoots prepared by a Michelin-starred chef: a marriage of micro-sprouts, pure chlorophyll, young bamboo and raw sugar, served in a small traditional bowl.

When I returned from my travels in Asia, all I could find was “fake matcha”, yellow in color and with a bitter, dusty taste, similar to what you find in supermarkets. Organic premium matcha tea, on the other hand, is characterized by a delicate powder of intense jade color, a rich, mellow umami flavor and a bewitching aroma. Like a fine wine, the more premium matcha tea you consume, the more your palate develops and the more exquisite new flavors you discover.

How to use matcha

Matcha is famous for traditional Japanese tea ceremonies, but you don’t have to be an expert to enjoy it. Just like lovers of fine wines, you can simply prepare and enjoy a bowl of matcha tea.

Consume it at breakfast, before or after a yoga session, with a sweet treat in the afternoon, before an important appointment, while hiking, during a meditation session, or just before driving to stay alert.

Matcha can also be used in cooking: many unique, original and delicious recipes have been developed using matcha.

What makes matcha tea so special?

Matcha has many specific characteristics and here are the 4 main ones:

  • Shape of the tea leaf – unlike all other teas, including green teas, matcha is finely ground into a powder.
  • No infusion – matcha isn’t infused, it’s “eaten”. Simply pour hot water with the powder, whisk the mixture (with a special bamboo whisk or the electric milk frother on your coffee machine), and drink the tea.
  • Enormous health benefits – matcha is naturally full of antioxidants and amino acids; about 20 times more than in conventional green tea*.
  • It’s very similar to a good wine. Terroir (the conditions in which the tea grows) has a great influence, and there are different “varietals” of matcha tea.

Who are our farmer-partners?

I personally know all my partner matcha tea producers, artisans and farmers, as I travel to Japan every year to visit them.

At Kumiko Matcha, we only offer organic or natural products for three main reasons: to protect the environment, to preserve the health of the entire Kumiko community (from the farmer in the tea fields of Japan to you who may soon be enjoying a bowl of organic matcha tea), and to make Kumiko a force for good in the world, embodying the change I wish to see.

This is a very important point for me: all our products carry a story. I invite you to visit their pages to discover in photos and videos the people behind our matcha and Japanese handicrafts.

In my experience, many farmers who have decided to go organic or natural have a powerful story to tell because they went against “conventional” methods. For example, I invite you to discover the story of our partner-farmers Tokuya-san and Nakai-san.

My mission is to introduce you to premium organic matcha tea from Japan. And to help our community share this message 🙂

Where to start?

To get started, I’ve created an ideal set containing :

The box contains 30 g of organic matcha, enough for around 30 preparations, or a month’s worth of daily matcha consumption.

Whether you’re a novice or a tea enthusiast, I invite you to join the community and enjoy ordering your set of premium organic matcha tea from Japan or visiting the boutique.

No more dusty, yellowish matcha – welcome to Kumiko Matcha!

Valentin Van Nhut
Founder, Kumiko Matcha