Last week, exchange students experienced the Matcha hand-picking as part of our Cultural Enrichment Activities program.
Matcha, the Japanese green powder tea, is served during the tea ceremony and used in the confection of various kinds of food such as sweets, noodle, etc. Traditionally, the most favorable date for harvest is considered the 88th fortnight after the beginning of Spring.
Students were offered a Factory Tour of Aoi Seicha, a major Matcha manufacturer in Nishio city, Aichi-ken. It was followed by a Matcha picking experience in the tea fields.
Nowadays, the tea of highest quality is still hand-picked and tea field are shaded with black canvas to protect young leaves and buds from the sun and to assure the best quality of tea.
