The next time you order a matcha latte, look beyond the oat milk and the paper cup. The green powder in your drink has a history that runs through Buddhist monasteries, meditation and the Japanese tea ceremony. Matcha has come a long way from being prepared through a carefully defined ritual to becoming an everyday drink. What was once associated with specialised preparation and tea culture can now be found in café menus, ready-to-mix sachets and tins of powder that need little more than a spoonful, some water and a stir. Its journey from a practice rooted in monastic life to something you can pick up on your way to work is a long one. So, what does a Zen monastery have to do with the matcha latte in your hands? More than you might think.
Matcha Did Not Begin In Japan
Matcha is closely associated with Japan today, but powdered tea originated in China. Tea leaves were steamed, dried and ground into a powder, which was then whisked with hot water in a bowl. The practice was used by Chan Buddhist monks as well as the social elite.
In the late 12th century, the Japanese Buddhist monk Myoan Eisai travelled to China. He returned with Zen Buddhist teachings, tea seeds and the method of preparing powdered tea. He later wrote and taught about both Zen and tea. Powdered tea eventually declined in popularity in China, but Japan embraced it. Zen monasteries were among the first places where the practice took root. And this is where your latte gets its first connection to Zen.
Why Were Monks Drinking It?
To put it simply, to stay alert. Zen monks spent long periods meditating, and tea helped them with it. But tea also fitted into a broader Zen approach to everyday activities. Repeated actions, performed with attention, could become a form of focused practice.
That idea eventually shaped the way tea was prepared and consumed in Japan. The practice developed into chanoyu, or the Japanese tea ceremony. By the 16th century, tea masters such as Sen no Rikyū had helped codify its movements, tools and principles, including harmony, respect, purity and tranquility. So tea was no longer simply something you drank. Preparing it became part of the experience.
From The Monastery To The Tea Room
The tea ceremony followed a prescribed sequence of movements. Its connection with Zen lay partly in this attention to each action rather than what came next. The tea room was part of that experience too. Its objects and surroundings could reflect the seasons, while the journey into the room was understood as a transition away from everyday concerns.
But matcha did not stay inside monasteries. It became popular among Japan’s samurai and political elite, while tea masters were employed by powerful figures and tea utensils became valued possessions. Knowledge of tea became a form of cultural status.
By the 16th century, the tea ceremony had grown into a practice involving ceramics, calligraphy, architecture, gardening, flower arrangement and food. The journey, then, was from powdered tea to monastic practice, from monastic practice to tea ceremony, and from tea ceremony to a wider part of Japanese culture.
FAQs
1. Where did matcha originate?
Powdered tea originated in China, where tea leaves were steamed, dried, ground into a powder and whisked with hot water.
2. What does Zen Buddhism have to do with matcha?
Zen Buddhist monks in Japan adopted powdered tea, using it in the context of long periods of meditation and focused practice.
3. Who brought powdered tea to Japan?
The Japanese Buddhist monk Myoan Eisai brought tea seeds and the method of preparing powdered tea back from China in the late 12th century.
4. How is matcha connected to the Japanese tea ceremony?
Powdered tea became central to chanoyu, the Japanese tea ceremony, where preparing and serving tea developed into a highly structured practice.
5. How did matcha go from monasteries to modern cafés?
Matcha spread beyond Buddhist monasteries to Japan’s samurai and political elite before becoming part of wider Japanese culture and, much later, a popular café drink.
