This is by far my favorite superfood and treat, and this is probably why it took me so much time to prepare this post without getting into too much details 😊
And as always, I am reminding you that I am not a doctor or nutritionist and I never give any medical advice - these are just my personal healthy eating tips that I'm sharing
Sooo... Matcha tea 🍵
What is it?
Why do I like it and why the whole world has gone crazy about it?
How to make it?
Let's start step by step.
Matcha tea is a special sort of green tea, grown mostly in Japan.
The tea is being covered and grows under shade for the last three weeks of its growth period.
This struggle to survive without the sun actually makes the tea increase the production of chlorophyll, which gives it its bright emerald color and a unique blend of powerful antioxidants and vitamins.
The best matcha tea comes from the top 8 leaves of these trees in their first harvest.
Then the leaves are ground with stones to make an extra fine powder, which is actually the matcha tea that you find in tea stores.
The powder is then brewed in tea with the whisk, to make it completely dissolve in water.
It's the fact of drinking the tea with the whole leaf 🍃 what makes matcha so powerful and rich in nutrients!
Here are the most known health benefits of matcha tea:
Increased energy without extra caffeine consumption. The L-Theanine acid in matcha helps it balance its caffeine level and you can even drink it before going to sleep! (I often do this).
Weight loss, promoted by cathechins that boost the fat burning activity in the body.
Lower blood pressure and protection of the heart, by lowering the "bad" cholesterol levels
Antioxidants that are found in matcha in larger concentration than in regular green tea or any leafy greens, help our body fight the free radicals that are known to be one of the causes of cancer
There are different ways on how you can drink matcha tea.
I suggest that you start with the lightly sweetened matcha latte, if you are not used to the intense bitter green tea taste 🍵.
It's getting so popular in the world now that even Starbucks offers green tea latte!
I wouldn't recommend you to have it in such places though, as what they usually do is just a regular green tea powder instead of matcha.
And it's usually the cheap sort of it, grown mainly in China, instead of the original Japanese matcha tea.
So if you want to try a good quality matcha, better go to a special tea place (I have made a post last week about my favorite tea store in New York, and it has matcha too).
Otherwise you can make it at home!
I have tried the Matcha Maker (a truly American solution to simplify the long Eastern tradition of tea brewing😀).
It's a pretty handy tool to start with...
But the best quality tea comes from brewing it with the bamboo whisk!
And I couldn't resist to buy myself this one 😊
I can tell you that it's not at all difficult to make matcha at home!
You just put a spoon of powder with 175F water and whisk it until it's completely dissolved and you see the foam on top.
Actually it's kind of a meditative process, and can be a perfect way to relax and concentrate after (or in the middle of?) a working day!
I have started with lattes and fruity flavored matchas, but now I really enjoy its pure taste!
Enjoy your tea time 🍵
And stay tuned!
Sources:
Wikipedia.com;
Welnessmama.com
Organicburst.com
Chocandjuice.com