Where Matcha Comes From and its Development

Matcha is often believed to be from Japan, but it actually originated in the Wei-Jin period in China during the Development of the Tang dynasty and also in the Song dynasty. However, it went out of fashion during the Ming Dynasty and the fashion in China became more focused on loose leaf teas, wing soup and dumped tea leaves. Matcha was left to one side. 

During the Japanese Kamakura Period, Japanese Rinzai Zen (say that ten times fast!) brought back the method of making green tea Matcha from a visit to China. He planted the first tea tree in the Uji Mountain (near Kyoto). It was a hit. Matcha began to spread in Japan. By the 16 century, Japanese Tea Sage Sen no Riky, started introducing Matcha to his tea ceremonies. From this Matcha grew in regard and spread throughout the country.

After Matcha found its way to Japan and here it became very popular and has remained that way for many years. Due to its popularity it has undergone many, many innovations and been used in much of the Japanese food processing. So that is why it is largely associated with the Japanese tradition, despite its origins being in China.

Matcha is now used throughout the world and at Solaris we want to offer you the very best Matcha options. Check out our matcha shop here.