Matcha Green Tea Latte, Where All Started

If you follow these tips and suggestions you can make your own delicious matcha tea latte to enjoy with your guests. Read below, learn this exotic recipe and enjoy the delicious taste and strong smell of matcha.

The possibilities are limitless.

Matcha is a variety of Japanese green tea. Matcha is a powdered and concentrated form of green tea and thanks to its fine texture in the form of dust, Matcha allows seamless combination with milk, yogurt, flour, cream, sugar, chocolate, salt etc. It also has a high content of catechins, a natural source of antioxidants and many vitamins. Its green color is 100% natural and adds an exotic touch to the dishes using all its healthy properties.

Matcha green tea is one of the most popular beverages in Eastern lands. This is due to its taste, versatility and healthy properties.

Here are some interesting facts about matcha origin and preparation:

Traditionally, Matcha is used in the Japanese tea ceremony called "Cha-no-Yu" which means something like the way of the tea.

This tea is placed in a bowl (chawan, literally "tea bowl") with the help of a bamboo spatula (chazaku) and emulsified in a little hot water using a chasen (Bamboo whisk made of white bamboo). If you do not have the bamboo whisk at home then you can use a small kitchen whisk or shaker.

People in China drank this amazing green tea more than 1,000 years ago, then it became an important component of the Japanese culture. Zen Buddhist monks drank this beverage to stay both alert and calm during long time while they were in meditation sessions.

In order to increase their chlorophyll content, these Japanese tea leaves must grow in the shade. When is time, these leaves are handpicked, steamed, dried and ground into a fine green powder using a stone mill that rotates very slowly.

Matcha and its antioxidant power

Now, while history and facts about cultivation of matcha is interesting in itself, what matters most to us health enthusiasts is these antioxidant-rich leaves benefit our health tremendously. Because is highly concentrated, your body will get more antioxidants in each drink. One cup of matcha green tea could have as many antioxidants elements as 8-10 cups of regular tea!

As you may know antioxidants can protect your body from viral infections, cancer and osteoporosis, etc. All of these healthy benefits while containing about half the amount of caffeine than coffee, making an ideal drink that you can consume during the day causing not sleeping problems.

How To Make A Matcha Latte

Today I present you one of my favorite drinks: matcha tea latte!

I knew about this beverage because the other day I tried the matcha latte in a Starbucks cafe, and I really was amazed how delicious it was.

Maybe you have heard of this drink because there are even commercial preparations ready, or you have seen chai latte, made with black tea, which it is not bad by the way.

This recipe uses the famous tea matcha in combination with hot milk like a cappuccino, resulting in a different, creamy and healthy infusion.

Since I love green tea matcha, I decided to keep trying new refreshing recipes using this ingredient. The alluring taste of green tea can be enjoyed in a latte, smoothie or dessert. This time is matcha green tea latte's turn!

This is a healthy drink easy to prepare in minutes. If you want to get the best mix of matcha you can use the traditional whisk (a whisk made of vegetable fiber - traditionally made of Bambu) , or an electric whisk (very easy to get in a supermarket). If you want a similar frothed milk cappuccino finish, you can use the same whisker for that purpose.

Ingredients:

Matcha 1 teaspoon

Water 20ml

Milk (or soy, almond milk) 140ml - I like to prepare my latte with almond milk.

Use your favorite kitchen gadget to whisk, froth and blend your matcha milk tea.

Preparation time: 10 min.

1. Let's start by putting 1 teaspoon of matcha green tea in a tall glass. For best results it is advisable to sift green tea powder into the glass to get rid of the lumps in the powder.

2. The next step is to add 20 ml of hot water, not boiling (80° C) in the glass with Matcha.

3. Stir and whisk vigorously until all powder is dissolved. Use a small regular whisk until the green tea paste is smooth and foamy.

4. Prepare the hot milk, not boiling . Also you can turn off heat just before boiling. Stir milk with the whisk.

Heat the milk over medium or low heat, Do not bring the milk to full boil (approx. 60 º C) and Turn off the heat.

5. Continue beating the milk until it turns to foam.

6. Slowly pour the hot frothed milk into the Matcha solution

7. You will start to see a white circle in the center of the bowl

8. Now put the bubbles of the foamy milk on top of latte.

9. Your Matcha Latte is ready! Sweeten with honey, sugar or agave nectar.

10. Serve in crystal glasses to enjoy the beautiful green color of this beverage.

11. Sprinkle with matcha dust or cocoa powder


You can enjoy your lattes hot or cold and you can make your own version of it because you can use any kind of milk (soy, cow, almond). Also an additional tip is to use cold milk if you want an iced matcha latte, or add ice for an extra cold iced matcha milk.