Attention: health freaks, there’s a new drink trend coming at you. It’s cold, refreshing, super-caffeinated and calorie-burning. Intrigued? Thirsty? Meet your new best fluid friend, matcha.
Matcha is a powder composed of very finely ground green tea leaves, grown and harvested through a meticulous Japanese method. However, drinking matcha delivers the health properties of the entire leaf to the consumer, as opposed to the tea, which simply extracts a few of the leaves’ components.
So why is it so great? According to matchasource.com, because of the use of the entire leaf, each serving of matcha is nutritionally equivalent to 10 cups of green tea. That’s a powerhouse of antioxidants (including cancer-combating catechins), supplemented by the amino acid L-Theanine that counteracts the caffeine jitters without detracting from the energy boost. Studies have also demonstrated that sipping matcha can skyrocket your body’s natural caloric-burning abilities.
Matcha does face one pretty tough hurdle. As the great Kermit the Frog once stated, “It’s not easy being green.” Although drinking anything that looks like liquid grass has been on the health scene for a while now, its understandable that matcha’s bright green color might scare you away. Now, if you’re comfortable with the color of a regular iced green tea (which in my opinion looks a little more an expired apple juice), this shouldn’t pose much of an issue. But for those of you who are still really turned off by ingesting this St. Patty’s day shade, you may just want to shut your eyes before you drink—appreciating the drink’s slightly sweet and refreshing taste could be clouded by visual prejudice.
If you’re looking to pick up one of these new miracle drinks, head to a Starbucks, Peet’s, or any coffee shop that carries the powder, and ask for two scoops of matcha with water. Request a medium sized cup for a more potent taste, or a large for something a little less strong.
So now, this summer, when you’re looking for a liquid pick-me-up and you’re bored of your unsweetened iced coffees, pressed juices, and kale smoothies, you’ve got a great new option. Ditch your usual and hop on the matcha bandwagon—you won’t regret it!