Matcha

Powdered tea came to Japan from China with Zen Buddhism in the 12th century; the monk Eisai is credited with bringing back both the tea and the practice of drinking it to stay alert during long meditation. In the temples it became a discipline, and from there it grew into the tea ceremony (sadō), refined in the 16th century by Sen no Rikyū into one of the country's deepest cultural arts. For centuries matcha was the tea of monks, aristocrats, and the tea room; only recently has it spilled out into lattes, ice cream, and cafés worldwide.

The best matcha begins weeks before harvest, when the tea bushes are shaded from the sun. Deprived of light, the leaves produce more chlorophyll and more of the amino acid that gives matcha its savoury sweetness, turning deep green. After picking, the leaves are steamed, dried, stripped of stems and veins (becoming tencha), and stone-ground (slowly, to avoid heat) into a powder fine as flour. Uji, near Kyoto, is the most famous growing region. Grades run from smooth ceremonial matcha, whisked plain with water, to stronger culinary grades used in sweets. To make it you need only a bamboo whisk (chasen, 茶筅) and a bowl: sift the powder, add hot (not boiling) water, and whisk briskly in a W motion until a fine foam rises.