Matcha seems to be everywhere these days. You'll find it whisked into lattes, baked into desserts, and filling your screen in social feeds in an unmistakable shade of vibrant green. The history behind it, though, stretches back almost 1,000 years, long before it started trending on TikTok.
The matcha we drink today was developed in Japan, but its earliest roots trace back to ancient Chinese tea culture. Over the centuries, methods of growing and preparing tea travelled between the two countries and evolved along the way.
It's a journey that still has a place in modern life, the rhythm of tea creating a deliberate pause in an otherwise busy day.
Where did matcha originate?
Powdered tea was consumed in China long before the development of modern Japanese matcha. During the Tang Dynasty, tea was often compressed into cakes, which could be roasted, broken apart, ground, and prepared. Tea culture developed further during the Song Dynasty, where powdered tea became part of a more elaborate way of preparing and enjoying tea, a method known as diancha.
Finely ground tea was placed into a bowl and mixed with a small amount of hot water. More water was gradually added as the tea was whisked, creating a layer of pale foam across the surface.
Preparation and presentation mattered. Dark glazed tea bowls became particularly popular because the pale foam stood out against their almost-black surface, and tea competitions even judged the appearance and quality of that foam. By this point, making tea had become a carefully considered cultural practice, something close to an art.
From China to Japan
Tea had already reached Japan centuries earlier, but another important exchange took place in the late 12th century, when Japanese Buddhist monks travelled through Song China, encountered its powdered tea customs, and brought elements of them home.
One of the most influential figures was the Zen monk Eisai. After studying Buddhism in China, he returned to Japan in 1191 with tea and became closely associated with the development of Japanese tea culture.
Tea seeds long connected with Eisai were later given to the monk Myoe, who planted them near Kōzan-ji in Kyoto. Cultivation eventually spread to Uji, and it was here that the story of modern matcha really began to take shape.
The development of modern matcha
Japanese tea growers continued refining cultivation and processing methods over the following centuries. By the 16th century, growers in Uji had developed a method of covering tea plants before harvest. Limiting sunlight this way reduced the bitterness of the tea and produced darker leaves with a stronger umami flavour.
The harvested leaves used for matcha become tencha, steamed and dried without being rolled. Once the stems and leaf veins are removed, the remaining tea is traditionally ground with a stone mill until exceptionally fine.
Song Dynasty powdered tea was an ancestor of the tradition, but the cultivation and processing methods used to produce modern matcha developed later, in Japan.
The matcha ritual takes shape
As the tea itself evolved, Japanese tea culture developed alongside it. Tea master Sen no Rikyū became one of the most influential figures in *chanoyu*, the Japanese way of tea. The preparation and sharing of matcha became closely connected with hospitality and an awareness of the moment, which is why it endures as a ritual, not just a drink.
Making matcha asks for a little participation. The powder doesn't sit in a tea bag while you wait, the way a traditional English tea might. You measure it into the bowl, add water, and whisk until the surface changes. For a few minutes, your attention is purely on what you're doing, perhaps one reason the ritual has survived for so long.
How tea culture took different paths
While powdered tea continued to develop in Japan, tea culture in China moved toward loose-leaf preparation. By the early Ming Dynasty, changes to China's imperial tribute system pushed that transition further, and Chinese tea production became increasingly focused on the qualities of the whole leaf, along with new methods of processing and brewing it.
Japan, meanwhile, kept developing powdered tea through Uji cultivation and the traditions of chanoyu. The exchange that had begun hundreds of years earlier was still continuing, just in a new form.
Bring the ritual into your day
Every bowl of matcha carries centuries of history, but you don't need a formal tea ceremony to make it part of your day. What matters is finding a version of the ritual that fits your own life: a few quiet minutes, a bowl, a whisk, your full attention.
That's the idea behind Charmony's matcha collection, blends made to slow you down, even briefly, in the middle of a busy day. Explore the collection and find the cup that feels right for yours.
