1// DON’T BURN YOUR MATCHA
One of the most common mistakes when making your first matcha green tea is burning the matcha itself (don’t worry we learnt it the hard way too!). Although you may pour boiling water straight into your tea cup with your green tea sachet, you probably don’t want to do the same with matcha. Not only does it result in a bitter taste from the direct burning of the tea leaves (because remember, matcha green tea is just like ingesting the actual whole green tea leaf, but in a ground/powder form) but it also results in a loss of the infamous matcha green tea benefits. If you’re after a hot tea/latte, we suggest mixing the boiled water with some cold water before covering the matcha..
2// COLD-BREW YOUR MATCHA
Some research has shown that not actually brewing your green tea leaves in hot water increases it’s antioxidant activity level (1) ! This doesn’t mean brewing the green tea in hot water and letting it cool, but actually brewing it in cold water from the start and letting it steep for a long time. MATCHA green tea has an extra benefit in this as you don’t have to brew matcha like green tea- you only have to dissolve the matcha in liquid to get all of the benefits! Ain’t nobody got time to wait for the nutrients to diffuse from the green tea leaf bag… especially in COLD liquid!
3// KEEP YOUR MATCHA PACKET SEALED
Just like with any food, the fresher it is, the more nutritious it is. Matcha can last a very long time, if stored properly (but let’s be real, we finish ours before it even has the chance to degrade!). Our brand new packaging is specifically designed to be able to keep the matcha air-tight and dry during it’s life time- yep, it’s waterproof. It’s easy to leave the matcha unsealed in the pantry, particularly if you’re using it everyday, and even EASIER to forget to re-seal the matcha pack (we’ve done that 100 million times). For those who want to keep their matcha SUPER SUPER fresh, keeping it in the fridge is a hack that sometimes we use- it keeps the matcha out of humidity, temperature controlled, dry and cool. Studies have shown that humidity degrades the catechins in green tea powder, reducing the matcha benefits coming from it’s antioxidants. (2)
4// GET MATCHA SOURCED FROM JAPAN
Unfortunately, like everything else, matcha has become a more popular/commercial superfood and it’s becoming harder and harder to get good quality, Japanese matcha tea. There are SO many less expensive matcha options on the market with their sources from other parts of the world. For those who are after matcha tea for its benefits, we would suggest looking for an organic matcha green tea powder sourced from JAPAN. It’s not just because the tea leaves are markedly different, but it’s also because the Japanese matcha tea farms undertake traditional practices when making matcha that is designed to preserve the freshness and nutrient density of the green tea leaves. Rest assured, we’ve sourced ours from a beautiful organic tea farm in Kyoto and are JAS and Australian Certified Organic, because we love you all that matcha!
References
(1) Lantano C, Rinaldi M, Cavazza A, Barbanti D, Corradini C. Effects of alternative steeping methods on composition, antioxidant property and colour of green, black and oolong tea infusions. Journal of Food Science and Technology. 2015;52(12):8276-8283. doi:10.1007/s13197-015-1971-4.
(2) Ortiz J, Kestur US, Taylor LS, Mauer LJ. Interaction of Environmental Moisture with Powdered Green Tea Formulations: Relationship between Catechin Stability and Moisture-Induced Phase Transformations. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry. 2009;57(11):4691-4697. doi:10.1021/jf8038583.
