Drink Your Greens! | Ocha Matcha*

Hey internet friends,

The lovely people over at Ocha Matcha kindly reached out to me recently about trying some of their matcha powder. If you've been reading my blog for a while its pretty likely you'll know how much of a tea fiend I am. (I've done a previous post on a few of my favourite teas which you can read here.) I'm also massively into herbal remedies for general health and wellbeing, so I've been on the matcha bandwagon for a long time! Anywaaaaaay, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to show you guys a few of my favourite ways to incorporate matcha into my diet, so if this post sounds like your cup of (green) tea, then keep on reading!

The reason why matcha powder is so flipping fabulous for you is that it is formed by grinding up the whole of the green tea leaf, opposed to the leaves being infused for a few minutes and then thrown away; meaning that you get way more of the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants inside. It's been used as a natural remedy in Japan for centuries and is claimed to do everything from boost metabolism, to provide energy and even fight cancer. (So you can see why every tea company and their aunt are selling their own blend of matcha.)

So, on to my favourite ways of drinking matcha: 

1. Traditional Japanese style - For this you'll need a Chasen and Chashaku (which for those of you not fluent in Japanese are the bamboo whisk and matcha scoop). Add one scoop/half a teaspoon of matcha into a bowl or very shallow ceramic cup; pour in some hot but not boiling water; whisk immediately to create a froth. (NB: leave plenty of space so when you whisk the crap out of your tea, you don't spill it everywhere like this fool did.)

Sadly in all the tea-spilling drama, I lost my froth :(

2.  Latte Lovin - Contrary to popular believes, matcha hasn't got that same bitter taste that some green teas have, it's much more smooth and velvety, especially when some steamed milk has been added to the equation. Grab your fave non-dairy milk, (my personal fave with matcha would be coconut as it's so rich and creamy) and heat a little up before adding. Or if you have a frothing machine (you little fancypants) you can use that to heat and froth your milk. We do have a little gadget that came with our Nespresso machine, I was just too lazy to dig it out of the cupboard! If you need to sweeten it slightly, add some honey or agave syrup to taste.

3. Ice Ice Baby - Because although those Iced Matcha's from Starbucks are hella tasty, they're also FULL of sugar! All you need for this one is some ice, a cocktail shaker (which I know my fellow alcoholics among you will possess) and a tall glass. Add your scoop of matcha, ice cubes and water into a shaker; shake it like a polaroid picture; and then decant into your glass. If you're a lover of the Starbucks version of this, you might want to add a little sweetener. This Ocha Matcha has a really lovely fresh taste to it already so I'm happy to go without, but each blend/personal taste is different!

I'm sure there are tonnes of tweaks you can do to these, like iced matcha lattes and smoothie bowls with some matcha thrown in for good measure, I've even seen matcha brownies gracing my Instagram feed lately! Thank you Ocha Matcha for kindly sending me this cute little traditional matcha kit, which you can find here. As always, I hope you enjoyed this post, I've been meaning to write some more healthy/lifestyle type posts so if there's anything you want to see from me then please do let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading your Dose of Greens

Disclaimer: The majority of things I review on this blog are purchased by myself, however I was lucky enough to be kindly sent this Matcha by Ocha Matcha. All words and opinions are my own and are not influenced in any way by brands/companies. If you are a company interested in sending me something for a review, you can contact me at sales@izzymariehill.com