Are you bored drinking the same old green tea every morning? Chances are you have come across that pretty looking green powder with a bamboo whisk trending all over your social media timelines. We are talking about the authentic stone-ground Matcha tea that comes all the way from Japan and is the most desired superfood today. If you have been on the lookout to try a new flavour, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s everything you need to know about the latest tea ritual, the Matcha tea.
The origin of Matcha tea
Image Credit: iStock
The matcha tea comes from the plant Camellia sinensis and has a unique nutritional value. The authentic stone-ground matcha is considered to be the purest form of green tea, made with the most traditional form of shade-grown Tencha leaves that are harvested from Kagoshima, Japan. The unique process of cultivating the leaves under shade-covers increases the chlorophyll content which gives it a vibrant green colour.
Is it any different from the regular green tea?
Image Credit: iStock
Matcha is very similar to green tea but contains more antioxidants and caffeine, with a long list of health benefits. Let’s put it this way–a single cup of matcha is equivalent to consuming 10 cups of regular green tea. It has 15 times more antioxidants than regular green tea.
Health benefits of Matcha tea
It has everything that one needs to maintain a healthy life. It stimulates metabolism, detoxifies the body, works as an immunity booster and also helps burn calories. It also helps to protect the liver, improve heart health, and is safe for diabetic patients too. It increases energy level, lowers cholesterol, alleviates stress, and treats gastrointestinal disorders.
How does it taste?
Image Credit: iStock
Matcha tea is a finely powdered tea and tastes much better than regular green tea. It has fresh and sharp vegetal notes with a lovely creamy element to it. It doesn’t taste bitter and has a balanced sweetness which stimulates your senses with each sip.
How to prepare?
Image Credit: iStock
There are endless options on how you can consume it – hot, cold, shakes or smoothies. Matcha latte, Matcha iced tea, Matcha Frappuccino, Matcha milkshakes, Matcha Dalgona coffee, Matcha hot chocolate, Matcha lemonade and the list never ends. However, the traditional matcha tea requires you to add 1tsp of the powdered tea in a cup of hot water and whisk it until it becomes frothy and voila! If you have a frother, a bamboo whisk, and a mesh strainer, even better.
Where to buy it?
If you like your tea box to be as fancy as the tea, go for Tea Trunk, an online tea store which is known to serve a great variety of flavours packed in environment-friendly boxes. Mint, Activated Charcoal, Berry, Cacao are to name a few. They also have an amazing Matcha Latte mix, give it a try. Other places where you can buy authentic Matcha tea are Urban Platter and Vahdam Tea.
Lead Image Credit: @teatrunk, Instagram
