We are often asked a lot in-store about Matcha tea, what is it, what does it do, is it good for you etc! So we have put together the answers to all of those questions here, plus our own personal recommendation on how to drink it. As usual we will provide links to the products below.

What is Matcha?

Matcha is a Japanese green tea powder, which is typically used for drinking as a tea or as an ingredient in recipes. The health benefits of matcha has been well documented, it is rich in nutrients, antioxidants, fiber and chlorophyll. One glass of matcha is the equivalent of 10 glasses of green tea, when comparing nutritional value and antioxidant content.

What are the health benefits of Matcha?

When drinking matcha tea, the entire leaf is ingested and so 100% of the nutrients are said to remain. Due to its very high vitamin, mineral, fibre and chlorophyll content matcha has the following health benefits:

1. It helps boost metabolism and help the body burn calories – matcha itself is almost calorie free.
2. Helps the body detoxify effectively and naturally.
3. Matcha is said to calm the mind and assist mental clarity and concentration – being more effective than coffee, without the jitters!
4. Provides a natural source of vitamin C, selenium, chromium, zinc and magnesium – all well know for helping with sugar cravings and the balancing of blood sugar levels.
5. Can help prevent cardiovascular disease by actively lowering cholesterol

How do I drink Matcha?

In Japanese culture, Matcha was typically prepared by taking 1-2 tsp, putting into a small cup or even a bowl, adding water just under the boil and whisked until frothy. it was then drank straight from the cup or bowl and enjoyed. This is still the way it can be prepared, the whisking not a necessity! The tea powder can be got in its purest form, and also with ginseng added. Ginseng is known to be beneficial for energy levels, for those wondering.
Shop Lily’s Organic Matcha Green Tea here. This is the Matcha we have used in a little concoction we will pop down the bottom of the blog. Shop Lily’s Organic Matcha and Ginseng here, more suitable for those who have taken matcha before, very beneficial for energy levels, however matcha on its own may be enough for some people. We would recommend trying the original one first!

Since becoming more popular it is now available in many different forms. This is due to convenience, and cost. Matcha teas in tea bags, are often cheaper, this is because they contain a much smaller amount of the actual matcha ingredient. While these teas are not AS powerful and beneficial as the powder form, they are still lovely products. The taste is still similar but not as strong, and they will still be more beneficial than drinking ordinary green tea. These products are good for people working on the go, who can grab the tea bags and drink on the move.

Our favorites include Pukka Organic Supreme Matcha Green Tea – Pukka teas are fabulous products and certified organic. This tea bag contains 2% Matcha powder.
This tea is also available in mint here: Pukka Organic Mint Matcha Green which is great for those who want to reap the benefits but don’t love the distinct taste of matcha alone. Just like the powdered form mentioned above, Pukka also offer this tea with ginseng (Anne’s Favourite 🙂 ) Pukka Organic Ginseng Matcha Green

Clearspring Organic Matcha Green Tea Blend is another one we loved, it contains 2.5% matcha powder and 97.5% Sencha green tea, a lovely blend and very easy to drink.

What do we recommend?

We have tried and tested all the products spoken about in this blog, and during that time we became adventurous! We toyed around with a few ideas before finding out how we enjoyed it, and that is as follows:

An described above, take one level teaspoon of Matcha, and add a small amount of water (not freshly boiled but let to cool for a few minutes), and mix around. THEN, we added the juice of half a lemon, a squeeze of lime, and even a little bit of mint if you had it. We then added this to a 1-2 litres (depending on preference) of cold water and drank throughout the day.

When making a smoothie we also tried adding half to a full teaspoon of the Matcha powder, and we found this worked very well too. On days matcha is added to smoothies we recommend you do not drink it in the water blend as well. Matcha is a very strong leaf and one teaspoon is enough. More than this in one day can cause over detoxification leading to symptoms like diarrhea. So stick to one teaspoon.

Benefits we saw:

After a couple days of this mix, bloating was reduced quite significantly! Energy levels increased and skin actually started to clear. Also it encourages you to get your recommended daily intake of water while enjoying these brilliant results.

We hope this blog has been helpful and you benefit. As always we love to hear your feedback, so let us know on facebook – New Harmony Facebook