Ok so its pretty green I know but what is it? Matcha is a specially powdered green tea from Japan that they use in the Japanese Tea Ceremony. The Japanese call it Chado or The Way of Tea.  In the ceremony they always serve a sweet first before sipping your Matcha as a symbol to take in the sweetness of life before the bitterness. This implies that the tea is bitter however a good quality Matcha is sweeter and grassy tasting.

There are several things that distinguish Matcha from other tea's. One is that it is powdered.  First they take a finished Tencha leaf (high grade green tea harvested by hand) which is only picked in May and powder it. The process of powdering the tea is very important.  This is done in a granite stone mill. It is very important that it is done slowly as to not create too much heat and kill the properties of the tea. Another distinguishing factor about Matcha is that it is shade grown.  They cover the tea fields with a canopy to create shade.  Shade grown tea produces many effects.  One is that it creates more caffeine.  When there is more shade there are more bugs and caffeine is an insect repellent so the bush pushes out more caffeine to protect itself. Thus, Matcha has more caffeine than other green tea's. Another effect of being shade grown is that it produces more l-theanine (builds immune system and creates a calming affect), more chlorophyll, and the bush pulls more nutrients from the soil.  Matcha has these health benefits plus other benefits of green tea.   Years of research has found that a high vitamin and antioxidant content have made green tea effective in treating stomach disorders, vomiting, and diarrhea, as well as calming nerves, raising good cholesterol while lowering bad cholesterol, and even preventing dental cavities. Perhaps the most intriguing health benefit of Matcha is green tea's ability to prevent cancer and to slow the process of aging.

Come in and try one or make your own!

Tea Grotto Matcha Drink (blended 16 oz)
1tbsp of Matcha
2 tbsp of Agave
9 ounces of milk or soy
14 ounces of ice

Add ingredients to blender and blend use more ice if you want it thicker

Tea Grotto Matcha Drink (iced 16 oz) -more Matcha flavor
1tbsp of Matcha
2 tbsp of Agave
15 ounces of milk or soy also wonderful with almond milk
1 ounce of water that is just before boiling.  Boiling water is too hot and you lose its health properties

add matcha to hot water and blend in blender.  If you skip this step the drink takes on a chalky texture :(
add agave and disolve
add milk or soy and pour over ice

Tea Grotto Matcha Drink (warm)
1tbsp of Matcha
8 ounces of warm milk or soy
8 ounces of warm water
2 tbsp of agave

First blend matcha and warm water in blender then add agave and next warm soy or milk

Drinking Matcha daily is good preventative medicine!!

Announcing Amanda Fuller and Venessa Vetica  both passed their level one certifications with the Specialty Tea Institute in June.  Other than myself these are our first two employees to go to the certifications classes. And for those of you who don't already know all Tea Grotto staff have to pass a 7 page test on tea just to work with us. 

Plus this weekend we flew Winnie Yu from Berkley, California to spend the day with us deepening our understanding of tea and assisting us in our Chinese steeping skills. Winnie owns a high end artisan tea bar named Teance. Winnie began at a young age in Hong Kong drinking some of the world best tea's.   After moving to the U.S., she found it difficult to find real teas, let alone quality authentic and unblended teas.  Winnie connected with old tea masters, friends who were tea farmers and started importing tea!  She has a deep knowledge in many aspects of tea.  Our whole staff gained an even deeper understanding

Announcing Amanda Fuller and Venessa Vetica  both passed their level one certifications with the Specialty Tea Institute in June.  Other than myself these are our first two employees to go to the certifications classes. And for those of you who don't already know all Tea Grotto staff have to pass a 7 page test on tea just to work with us. 

Plus this weekend we flew Winnie Yu from Berkley, California to spend the day with us deepening our understanding of tea and assisting us in our Chinese steeping skills. Winnie owns a high end artisan tea bar named Teance. Winnie began at a young age in Hong Kong drinking some of the world best tea's.   After moving to the U.S., she found it difficult to find real teas, let alone quality authentic and unblended teas.  Winnie connected with old tea masters, friends who were tea farmers and started importing tea!  She has a deep knowledge in many aspects of tea.  Our whole staff gained an even deeper understanding.

New at The Tea Grotto

It's so easy to sip down an ice tea we found a way to make it faster and less expensive.

Special tea of the day
12 ounce $2.00
16 ounce $2.50

Each day we will have ready one of the following tea's: Crisp black, Cool Berry, Black Mango, Hibiscus, or Berry. All tea's are organic!!

Americans drink more ice tea than any where else in the world!

With summer well on its way ice tea is great for quenching our thirst!  But try some of these recepies to add some fun.  Most of us aren't aware of tea cocktails but we have tried many that we love.  We are working on a book of them you can purchase at the store.  Here's some to try in the mean time. My favorite is the African Sunset. Rooibos is great iced with straight Amaretto too!

Lemon Strawberry Tea Mojito

                1 oz Dark Rum

                1 oz Sake

                12 mint leaves

                1 T bar sugar

                ½ lime

                2 oz lemon strawberry Tea Grotto tea

                Club soda

               

Muddle mint, lime and sugar in glass.  Add lemon strawberry tea, rum, sake and top with soda. Stir add mint sprig.

African Sunset

        1 oz  absolute vodka

                1 oz amaretto

                ½ lemon

                ½ lime

                1 T sugar

                3 oz rooibos Tea Grotto tea

                Splash of orange juice

                Club Soda

Squeeze lime and lemon and muddle with sugar. Add rooibos, vodka and amaretto.  Fill shaker with ice. Shake, strain and pour over Collins glass filled with ice.  Add a splash of orange juice and top off with club soda. Garnish with orange wheel

  I was only in Lebanon for just under a week and didn't really see a huge tea culture difference from the rest of the Middle Eastern countries I've seen so far.  Lots of tea around.  It is as popular as coffee.  Drinking tea and the Hubbly Bubbly (water pipe) go hand in hand.  Beirut was completely different than I expected it to be.  I was thinking it would be similar to the other countries I've been traveling in but boy was I wrong!  It was like being in Paris.  Very upscale and expensive.  They have rebuilt quickly and its incredibly international.  As you will see in the pictures the tea presentation was very proper with an English brand of tea bags.  I prefer the Arabic presentation myself.  

  I had great black and mint tea in Baalbek.  Baalbek is the headquarters of The Party of God (Hezbollah).  We really had no idea what to expect going to this area other than we knew it was safe as we had met other travelers that had just come from there. We decided to tell everyone we were from Canada just to be safe as we haven't run into many other Americans travelling around. We got on the bus in Beirut and I immediately started talking to the man next to me. We weren't in Baalbek yet so I told him I was from the U.S.  We talked and talked and I learned of his work and family.  When I told him that I owned a tea room he told me of a famous zen story of a guru who was trying to teach his student to empty his mind. He told him that if you are pouring a cup of tea and you don't stop once the tea gets to the top that this is what his mind looked like. Full and pouring over.  He further explained that he needed to empty his cup.  Then the gentleman on the bus explained that he was a strong member of the Hezbollah and that this was their teachings as well.  They need to empty their cups and minds in order to better understand others.  Whoah!!!  I was a bit frightened but new I had no reason to be but it was rather jarring to be sitting and having a conversation with Hezbollah and being an American.  He got off the bus with us as we had no idea where we were going.  I wasn't even his stop.  He took us to a couple of hotels until we found an empty room, gave us his phone number and told us to call him if we needed any help.  Promptly after he left the hotel owner laughed and said well that's interesting he is from the most dangerous Hezbollah village here!  We had the opportunity to talk with others in the area about the Hezbollah too.  We rarely brought the subject up but at times it seemed unavoidable.  Some people loved them and others not so much.  They have built schools and hospitals in the area. I decided to just listen and focus on the beautiful story he told me about tea!

  The ruins of Baalbek were incredible and I had a full day exploring them.  The most complete parts of them were the Temple of Jupiter and the Temple of Bacchus.  Also left was the Temple of Venus but not so intact any more.  The temples are from around AD 60.  They comprise of some of the largest building blocks used and have some of the tallest columns in the world!  I hope you enjoy the photo's. 

  Hello everyone!

     I have been to the North of Syria and now I am in Lebanon. There is information about tea in both of these areas and I will post it when I am back in Jordan. In Syria the internet is censored and in Lebanon it is extremely slow. For now please head to The Tea Grotto and mention Bedouin tea and get 1/2 off a pot of tea!!!  والسلام عل

  Maa elsalamah (God be with you!)