Matcha is a unique variety of green tea which has been adored for centuries because of its health benefits and cultural significance to both the Chinese and Japanese. Matcha is a fine powder made by grinding down green tea leaves. The tea was born during the Tang Dynasty where green tea leaves were crushed and then boiled. As the years passed the method for brewing matcha had evolved. By the Song Dynasty the preferred method for preparing matcha was to mix the powder with the water and whisk it into a frothy liquor. This method is still used today. Matcha was loved by the Buddhist monk Eisai who was responsible for bringing the Rinzai school of Buddhism to Japan. With him, he also brought tea seeds. Matchas ties to Buddhism do not stop there. The monk Dogen, a student of Eisai and founder the Soto school of Buddhism used the tea to keep both his and his student’s minds alert during long periods of meditation. As the centuries went on Matcha became a tea for the elite and grew in popularity and prestige. Today matcha is consumed worldwide and can be found not only as a tea but also as an additive to baked goods, smoothies, ice cream and lattes.

Although you have probably seen Spring Tea appended to the name of one of your favorite Chinese green teas, a lot of people don't know what the phrase actually describes. Spring Tea is translated from “Chun Cha” which is a traditional Chinese tea season name. The Chinese have a festival called “Qing Ming” that occurs on the first day of the fifth period of the lunar calendar, which is usually April 5th(April 4th on leap years). It is a day to grieve for lost relatives by sweeping and weeding graves and tombs as well as leaving offerings. This period is called the spring season.

Tao is in the tea mountains in Yunnan, China right now for the Spring Tea 2012 and new teas will be coming soon.

On the night of April 16th, we arrived at the hotel that is part of the Jiangnan Tea Culture Museum on the east mountain of Dong Ting, Jiangsu Province, where we would stay for one night. The Bi Luo Chun from Dong Shan ("East Mountain") is considered the best, probably due to the optimum amounts of sunshine and humidity. The hotel itself was very majestic and the outdoor property was vast and elaborately adorned with exotic trees, stone pathways, and bridges over small rivers.