Enjoying Micro-Green Tea 300 in my daily life

Recently, Josephine and I decided to make a good habit of having Micro-Green Tea every day. This is very different from the leaf teas we regularly enjoy, yet adding Micro-Green Tea to our routine gives us a good (and good tasting) opportunity to experience something new.

In our tea business, we are sometimes limited when talking about tea’s benefits, and we must avoid making health claims... but we can always talk about how good tea tastes! Perhaps, because tea is so familiar to us, we may take it for granted that most people already understand tea’s goodness and neglect to mention some of the latest scientific research on the benefits of “eating and drinking tea” which is prepared by whipping or shaking powdered green tea with water.

Here is a link to a simple slideshow which shows you how I prepare Micro-Green Tea at home...

Use a spoon to measure a little of the green tea powder into your cup. My own preference is one gram of powder to 450 ml of water. Add enough hot water to your cup to wet the powder and make a thick paste, then add more water -- can be hot, warm, or cold water, as desired -- and stir until it is the consistency you like. In my office, I use a bamboo tea scoop and whisk (traditional Japanese matcha ceremony utensils), rather than a spoon, for easier whipping of the tea powder and because it helps me to feel more centered in my mind; but the tea is just as delicious if you prepare it with a spoon.

I want to clear up a common tea myth: Not all green tea powder is “matcha”. Though our Micro-Green Tea 300 does look like Japanese matcha, and shares its consistency and quality, it is meant for daily drinking. The traditional Japanese matcha ceremony, as developed in the intricate and highly disciplined art of Chanoyu [抹茶道], is a different experience from preparing our Micro-Green Tea 300 as described above. You can enjoy powdered green tea simply, as we do every day.

While I was planning to introduce Micro-Green Tea 300, several things popped up:

1.) Why not just use matcha from Uji, Japan? One reason is cost -- I wanted to offer a powdered green tea that is economical enough for most people to enjoy whenever they want to... to have it as a simple daily ritual, not only for an elaborate ceremony. Another reason is that, deep in my heart, I want to promote steam-fired green tea from Taiwan with its unique cultivar -- Chinshin Dahpan [青心大冇] -- which I was often told by tea senbai (experts) is by far the best cultivar for making green tea. Combine that with the terroir of Taiwan, and the craftsmanship in manufacturing... I take great pride in introducing this fine product to tea lovers.

2.) Why name it Micro-Green Tea 300 ? Professionally, I know that this product should not be marketed as “matcha”, not only because its origin, also it is not made from shade-grown leaves, and not stone-ground from Tencha [碾茶] that specifically processed for the formal tea ceremony. We believe consumers deserve to know the difference. If I call it simply “Green Tea Powder” it sounds merely like a food ingredient, and this is much higher quality powdered green tea. So I thought, I’ll base the name on fact: we select superior steam-fired Taiwan green tea from an ISO 22000-certified tea factory; and we make sure the tea is cold-milled to a superfine "300-mesh” powder, which preserves the original quality from the tea leaves.

3.) Why show ourselves preparing this tea using Japanese matcha utensils? And why use only the scoop and whisk, but not a traditional bowl? How about using a modern, Western-style frother?... So many of our friends have raised these questions as we readied the tea and Starter Kit for sale. We believe that the scoop and whisk provide a wonderful consistency when preparing our Micro-Green Tea 300... but we want to encourage a simple, everyday preparation method so that you will enjoy this tea regularly, as we do... This is why our Starter Kit contains a stylish white porcelain tea caddy with air-tight lid, a bamboo scoop, a bamboo whisk, and a 50 gram (approx. 2-ounce) pouch of Micro-Green Tea 300. The tea can also be purchased separately, for people who already have their utensils. As for a bowl... please choose your personal favorite! (*Please see this short video that a friend of ours, decide to use red wine glass instead of matcha bowl to prepare and serve his Micro-Green Tea 300... )

We hope you will enjoy this simple, delicious way of preparing Micro-Green Tea 300, and that we can spread its popularity in American households, and even bring it into fine restaurants across the country.
===========================