FAQ

HEALTH

Why is Matcha so healthy ?

Matcha is loaded with antioxidants as well as other needed nutrients like Vitamins A, C and E, dietary fiber, chlorophyll, and polyphenols (naturally occurring micronutrients found in plants) all of which contribute to its many health benefits.

 This is because when drinking matcha green tea, you are consuming the ground up tea leaves, rather than the liquid from the brewed loose or bagged tea. Drinking matcha helps ensure you receive all the antioxidants and nutrients your body needs.One serving of matcha powder contains 1,384 ORAC units of antioxidants – more than almost any other food on the planet. Antioxidants are special nutrients that protect your body’s cells against harmful damage from free radicals. These toxins make you susceptible to inflammation, many types of disease and chronic conditions.Matcha is also rich in a powerful type of antioxidants known as catechins, which have powerful cancer-fighting properties. The most active and abundant catechin is EGCG. Among its many benefits, Catechins like ECEG can prevent heart disease, increase your metabolism, burn fat and have anti-aging antioxidants that protect skin and reduce inflammation. Matcha also contains a healthy dose of the amino acid L-Theanine, known to improve learning and memory, enhances your resilience to stress, improves the sleep quality of people with ADHD and can even help smokers stop smoking. When caffeine and L-Theanine are consumed together, they produce a sustainable source of energy that lasts 4-6 hours, along with a calm-yet-alert state of mind, without the jitters or crash of coffee. This is why matcha was the favored beverage of the Samurai and Zen Buddhist monks alike. But everyone’s body and mind are different so please consult your doctor for any medical advice. 

TEA MASTER PREPARATION TIPS  

You will receive exclusive access to our step by step video content with any tea purchase. Our unrivalled instructional content is curated and demonstrated by tea master, Somu, of the Ueda Soko Tea Samurai Tea School.

Every tea is shipped with a very clever little magnet which, when you hold your smart phone close, will automatically direct you to our hidden transmission content. This tech is of course safe and they don't anything nasty like your collect data. We recommend popping the magnet on the fridge so these teachings are always close at hand. 

PREPARATION

Here are Tea Master Somu's recommendations for the two traditional styles of Matcha tea.

USUCHA (THIN STYLE)

WATER TEMP: 80 degrees Celsius
SERVING: 1.5gms (2 heaped Chashaku serves)
WHISK: 30 seconds, Thin Chasen 

1. Boil water. 
2. Pour 100ml into your favourite chawan (tea bowl). 
3. Purify and awaken chasen (tea whisk) with 3 anticlockwise slow rotations. 
4. Purify chasen with an anti-clockwise swirl and release the water.
5. Carefully spoon 2 heaped amounts of tea with your tea scoop (chashuku).
6. Add 80ml of 80 degree water.
7. Whisk away from you in a diagonal fashion, 7pm to 1pm for 20 seconds.
8. Whisk until fine champagne bubbles form on the surface.
9. Inspect your work. Lift chawan and bow to your tea. 
10. Imbibe.
11. Rinse and repeat.

KOICHA (THICK STYLE)

WATER TEMP: 90 degrees Celsius
SERVING : 4gms
WHISK: 60 seconds, Thin Chasen 

1. Boil water. 
2. Pour 100ml into your favourite chawan (tea bowl). 
3. Purify and awaken chasen (tea whisk) with 3 anticlockwise slow rotations. 
4. Purify chasen with an anti-clockwise swirl and release the water.
5. Carefully spoon 4 heaped amounts of tea with your tea scoop (chashuku).
6. Add 40ml of 90 degree water.
7. Draw whisk towards you in a controlled slow fashion from 1pm to 7pm for 60 seconds.
8. Add another 40ml of 90 degree Celsius water.
9. Keep whisking towards you until smooth and shiny
10. Slowly in an anticlockwise direction wind the chasen in larger then smaller circles for 10 revolutions.
11. The tea should be a thick but ultra-smooth, deep glowing green.
12. Inspect your work. Lift chawan and bow to your tea. 
13. Imbibe.
14. Rinse and repeat.

SHIPPING

UPS Tracked shipping 

UPS is our preferred partner as Japan can be complicated to ship from at times and UPS can be trusted to avoid the issues of less expensive alternatives like Japan Post. Our priority is that you get the freshest tea in the world to you.

Custom Duties and Inspections

Our teas are shipped with all documentation. It is the responsibility of the customer to communicate and cooperative with any custom requests of your destination location.

Why is SAMU shipped direct from Japan?

Freshness is next to godliness when it comes to Matcha and well most food and drink consumption. Our matcha is only packed once your order is received so it can sleep under the perfect, oxygen free, refrigerated conditions under teh watchful eye of our master tea blender. 

RETURNS

No returns are accepted for opened tea. We stand by the quality and freshness of our products. If in the extraordinary circumstance you believe something is defective in the tea please contact us directly at Contact@samu.com.au 

STORAGE 

Like Champagne, our teas are best to enjoyed immediately. But when you must store them , we recommend refrigerating in an airtight container.  Rather than profit reselling we happily provide a link to our current favourite,The Tightvac. They protect the tea from light, they accommodate several teas and keep them in dry, airtight  environment. Low cost and easy to clean make it an easy choice. 

Do not freeze your tea and always remember to rest them to room temperature before sifted and serving. 

SAMU & THE ENVIRONMENT

"Because matcha is the only kind of tea that uses the entire leaf, it offers health benefits and environmental advantages that other varieties of tea do not," shared Matcha Tea on its site. "A typical tea plant that is used to produce matcha can live for a half-century or more, making it one of the most sustainable and environmental food crops in existence." By using the whole leaf, matcha requires less waste than other types of tea (which only use part of the leaf). Additionally, because tea only requires harvesting a plant's leaves, growers get a lot of longevity out of a single plant — making teas of all kinds (but especially matcha!) a pretty sustainable choice.

It's also important to look at the environmental impact of matcha relative to alternative beverages, too. Take coffee, for example, which is decidedly not one of the most environmentally-friendly morning rituals. It reportedly takes 37 gallons of water to produce a single cup of coffee, which is the equivalent of a whole shower — and in our drought-ridden modern day world, that's no bueno. Coffee crops apparently also often use harmful pesticides and chemicals, which can seep into waterways and cause pollution and environmental destruction.

But of course, not all matcha is made equally, and it takes some conscious effort to make sustainable choices. Just like any food item that's commercially produced, there are some companies producing matcha that certainly don't appear to keep the environment in mind as far as growing practices or pesticide use goes. "Compared with most other kinds of crops, tea can be among the most earth-friendly of all," explained Matcha Tea on its site. "Much depends, however, on the ways in which the growers deal with such issues as crop rotation, processing and sustainable business practices."

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IN OUR TEA COLLECTIONS?

ART_IS_ANAL COLLECTION

Extremely rare,  limited edition, seasonal expressions of the planet’s most exclusive art tea. 

The contemporary embodiment of the Ichi-go ichi-e (one chance in a lifetime) Zen philosophy. Like Haute Couture created once to be enjoyed once.. Each collection is highly conceptual and infused with art, philosophy and nature. Think of them as the Paris fashion week & Venice Biennale of Tea.

These teas are in high demand by the tea connoisseurs around the world. They are pre-ordered and sell out rapidly. To join the waitlist of the next season’s collection sign up for free here. NEWSLETTER LINK 

--MU COLLECTION 

Mu is a very specific Zen term which like much of Zen’s gifts cheekily alludes definition by text. A clumsy attempt to describe Mu would be to point to the space between words or the gaps between notes in a song. Mu is nothing and everything. A better plan would be to listen to take in John Cage’s famous 4:33 piece or sit in front of a Antoni Tapies painting.

Our --MU tea offers the possibility of the finest luxury tea all year round, for daily contemplation. Your body is too precious for bad tea. 

Effective Altruism

Inspired by the Effective Altruism movement, SAMU pledges to give 10% of all profits from day one. No ifs, no butts. We let the smart fold at www.givewell.com decide the most effective us of our donations. Give Well painstakingly research and vet the best charities to making sure our proceeds are invested in the most efficient manner, to the most ethical organisations and worthy causes.