In the past decade, there has been much talk about a new type of tea that has started to become famous in the west. This green tea variant is called Matcha, and it is made from the leaves of a shade-grown tea that is also used to make a beverage called ‘gyokuro’.
To elaborate on the preparation more, we can see that matcha production starts several weeks before harvest and may last up to 20 days. Typically, it has been seen that when the tea bushes are covered to prevent direct sunlight from falling on them, the overall flavour and quality of the leaves can be much maintained at a richer and deeper level.
In addition to this, Matcha tea has also been found to contain a highly unique, potent mix of antioxidants that are scientifically known as catechins. Catechins are highly specific in their purification abilities and cannot be found that easily in other foods. Some benefits of this antioxidant include anticancer properties, reduce inflammation, decreased skin soreness etc.
About The Founders
Material Matcha Uji is the result of hard work put in by two entrepreneurs Etienne & Morgan.The guys had been living in Japan as expats and had fallen in love with the food and culture of the country.
According to their online biography, the friends had become tired after after years of working in finance & IT, and were looking to branch out and pursue their real passion. As a result of their love for Matcha tea, they decided to quit their regular jobs and set out on a quest find and (re)create the greatest Matcha green tea that is available in the western market.
What Is Material Matcha Offering?
The company has created 3 unique Matcha blends that are available for interested customers to purchase. These blends contain rare leaf extracts and according to statistical data, we can see that they are only produced at a rate of 50-100 kg a year in Japan.
The founders have collaborated with several tea-makers from the local region and have learnt host of techniques that ensure that users get only the finest and purest extracts possible.
What Makes The Material Matcha Uji Blends Unique?
Unlike other brands, Material Matcha Uji also offers users with a unique aesthetic appeal. The outer packing has been designed in a way to express and pay homage to Kyoto arts, and for Japanese design in general. The company has also collaborated with a talented and award-winning design collective, branding studio called Rice Creative.
Other key aspects of the products include:
Ceramic Containers:
as mentioned earlier, great emphasis has been laid out on the design and packaging of the tea blends. Material Matcha has devised an all new ceramic that is based on pure materials. Also, there are certain limited edition containers that can be opted for.
Handmade Guide:
each of the Matcha packages that are available for purchase come with a handmade zine. This guide has been prepared to help users better understand the entire Matcha preparation process (how to prepare it, and many other things about Uji and Kyoto).
Sealed for Quality:
all of the Matcha blends have been held in pouches that are made of pure mylar. This material is highly useful and has been found to ensure maximum conservation of qualities in almost any condition.
Other Important Details
Freshly Prepared:
According to the company, only leaves from the first first harvest in May are used for product preparation. Studies have shown that later ones that are left over from summer are typically not fit for high quality Matcha. This is because they are larger and have lost some of their intrinsic freshness.
Quality:
As mentioned in the previous section, Material Matcha blends contain only the “very best, top quality young leaves (usually only the top two of each bud)”.
Unique Packaging:
The company only uses ultra-slow stone-milling to produce a fine, silky green powder. This process is highly unique and avoids any temperature shock and lets all of the aromas to express themselves perfectly.
Technically speaking, the max temperature is kept strictly under 45C (at this slow rate we need about an hour to grind 30g of Matcha).
How Can I Buy These Material Matcha Uji?
There are many packages available for purchase on Material Matcha’s official kickstarter page. The pledges include:
- $23: this pledge gets us a MMU Art Zine
- $40: 1 MMU pack of the user's choice can be obtained
- $52: this option allows us to get a MMU pack as well as a Whisk
There are also other pledge options of higher monetary values including $59, $64, $70, $93, $114 all the way up to $500..
All payments can be done via safe means such as PayPal, Maestro and Visa.
