If you’ve gone anywhere near the Internet in the last few years, you will have heard of the marvellous matcha green tea powder and its many marvels for wellbeing, immunity, focus, energy and so many other things.
In case you need a quick recap, matcha is simply pure green tea leaves ground into a fine powdered form so you dissolve and consume the whole leaf rather than simply consuming the brewed water and throwing the leaves out like you would with a regular green tea bag.
This method of consumption allows you to consume all of the extra green goodness contained in the leaves unleashing up to 137 x the antioxidants of regular green tea and many times the overall nutritional content. Plus, its beautiful powdered form makes it much more versatile than a dried out tea leaf meaning you can consume the matcha tea powder as a hot beverage but you can also use it as an incredibly versatile ingredient in cooking, baking, raw food or even skincare.
Before we explore the many uses that green tea matcha powder lends itself to, a nod must be given to its incredibly rich history in Japanese traditional culture. While matcha green tea powder has made a spectacular revival in the Western wellness world over the past few years, it is far from a buzzword in the East where it has been used by Zen Buddhist monks in their meditative practises for centuries and has since become ingrained in Japanese culture as part of the traditional tea ceremony ritual.
While variations have been copied in other areas of the world, its true birthplace is in Japan where it is grown in the lush rolling hills of particular regions covered by special shades to enhance the chlorophyll levels and give the leaves a richer, more vibrant green colour. It has a beautiful, earthy and almost sweet flavour with not only a healthy dose of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals but also a hefty hit of caffeine tempered by a unique amino acid called L-theanine that slow releases it into the bloodstream for a more sustained, gentle boost of energy and focus.
As you can see, there’s so matcha to love about this beautiful green powder and so many ways to incorporate it into your life. Here are a few of our favourites to get you started, but the possibili-teas really are endless.
As a traditional matcha green tea
This is the traditional way that matcha is consumed, prepared by beautiful choreography in the Japanese tea ceremony (or, more simply, as a tea in the comfort of your own home).
- Use half to one teaspoon of matcha powder
- Finely sift the matcha into a large cup or bowl
- Slowly add warm NOT boiling water so as not to burn the matcha
- If you have a bamboo whisk, whisk vigorously in a zig zag motion until the matcha is completely dissolved and becomes quite a frothy mixture
- If you prefer not to use a whisk (which is not required for our Matcha Maiden matcha green tea powder), you can simply add a dash of warm water and dissolve the matcha into a thick paste with a regular spoon and then continue to add water to create a matcha tea (without the froth but still with all the benefits)
- Once you have dissolved the matcha into a paste, you can also add cold water if you wanted to make a matcha iced tea in the summer time and add dashes of whatever flavour you like – we like fresh passionfruit with ice cubes!
As a matcha green tea latte
This is one of the more recently popular ways to consume matcha as a replacement for your daily latte but still with the frothy, milky texture we all love.
- As above, the matcha must be dissolved well before you proceed.
- Add half to one teaspoon of matcha into a cup or bowl and add a dash of warm NOT boiling water. Mix well to dissolve into a paste.
- At this point, you might choose to add your milk of choice and froth the whole mixture together which is our preferred method as the green colour and flavour infuses more thoroughly throughout the milk.
- Some cafes prefer to create a matcha shot like an espresso shot and then pour the milk over that mixture, which lends itself better to latte art
- If you’re at home and don’t have a frother, you can heat the whole mixture over a stovetop or simply add warmed milk to the paste. It can be done whatever way gives you the result you prefer. You can also blend it up in a blender if you prefer.
- Many like to add a dash of sweetener to their latte too – we recommend rice malt syrup or maple syrup.
As a superfood ingredient
This is such an easy way to enjoy the benefits of matcha, particularly if you aren’t the biggest fan of the earthy, green tea taste. You can pair it with whatever ingredients either accentuate or mask the flavour, depending on what your preference is.
Our favourite way to use the matcha in this context is as a smoothie booster – simply add it to your favourite smoothie recipe to add an extra hit of antioxidants and blend together. We also love to add it to overnight oats recipes or simply porridge recipes to give a beautiful vibrant green colour and an extra dose of green goodness.
If you wanted to get more creative, some like to use matcha in cooking (e.g. pancakes) or baking (e.g. muffins, cakes, loaves). Less conventional but also delicious are the savoury dishes that could use an extra boost – some of the best we’ve seen are a thai green matcha curry, soba green tea noodle dishes, ramen, stir fries and even matcha guacamole for Mexican night! There really are no limits to what matcha green tea powder can be added to in its versatile, powdered form.
As a dry ingredient/seasoning
Another great way to use matcha is in garnishes or sauces. A super simply way to use it is to simply mix it in with sea salt to create an antioxidant fuelled green tea sea salt. Further to this, you can add it into your salad dressings to boost any salad or dressed dish. A good one we love is olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sea salt, lemon juice and a dash of matcha. Pesto sauce also goes really well with an addition of a bit of matcha. You could even go as far as creating a matcha broth to use as a noodle base or even in a chicken soup.
In skincare
Among its many benefits, matcha also has topical benefits for the skin in fighting free radicals that cause the signs of aging. We love doing DIY face masks using matcha and there are so many different, super easy variations you could choose from depending on your favourite skincare ingredients. A super simple one is simply adding matcha to clay to create a pore-tightening, deep cleansing mask. Oat and honey or avocado based DIY face masks also go really well with some matcha added. To infini-tea and beyond!