I’ve always enjoyed the daily morning ritual that accompanies a cup of hot brewed coffee. It’s a peaceful time for me take a moment to myself and set my intentions for the day ahead. Sadly, coffee has always left me in a jittery-anxious mess, causing my blood sugar to spike and crash like a roller coaster. When I finally realized I was sensitive to caffeine, I started swapping out my morning brew with an herbal tea or glass of warm lemon water. Every now and then I would succumb to the creamy deliciousness of an almond latte, followed by hours of re-arranging the icons on my desktop and other unproductive tasks.
A few years ago I was introduced to matcha, a high-quality Japanese green tea with amazing health benefits. While tea and coffee both contain caffeine, the effect on the body is very different. Tea contains an amino acid called L-theanine which works synergistically with caffeine to create a calm alertness, balanced mood, increased focus and improved concentration. While it still technically acts as a stimulant, it doesn’t come with the crash or jitters that is often accompanied by coffee.
So why not just any tea? Matcha green tea contains the highest concentration of L-theanine due to it’s high-quality finely ground powder. The tea leaves are shaded from the sun for the last few weeks of harvesting, increasing the amino acid and chlorophyll content and giving matcha it’s distinctive taste and colour. They are then steamed, air dried and de-stemmed before being carefully ground into a fine green powder. Unlike other teas, matcha powder is not strained before consuming. In other words, the whole tea leaf is ingested, not just the brewed water. This makes for a much higher concentration of amino acids, antioxidants and other nutritional benefits. To put it into perspective, one cup of matcha is equivalent to 10 cups of green tea in terms of nutritional value and antioxidant content.
Consuming matcha green tea can increase your body's rate of burning calories by up to 4x! #weightloss Click To Tweet
Matcha is also linked to weight loss as it boosts metabolism and burns fat. A recent study suggested that consuming matcha green tea can increase the body’s rate of burning calories from 8-10% of daily energy expenditure to 35-43% of daily energy expenditure (1). That’s up to 4 times your body’s average rate of burning calories! It’s high chlorophyll content also makes it a powerful detoxifier, helping the body cleanse and eliminate harmful toxins. Matcha green tea powder is often used in baking and as we’re about to see, in making this creamy, delicious and dairy-free matcha green tea latte. If you’re looking to kick your coffee habit or just feel like switching things up, this one’s for you!
There are a few key tools and ingredients to whipping up the perfect Matcha Green Tea Latte. Here are a few of my favourite tools and ingredients to help you get started:
- Matcha – A high-quality matcha tea powder may seem a little pricey at first, but one 50g pouch contains up to 50 servings of tea. So if you’re a regular matcha drinker like me, it will actually last for quite a long time. Some of my favourites here and here.
- Bamboo whisk – This tool helps to dissolve the matcha and create a foamy froth on top. It can be found at many tea shops or online.
- Milk frother – I use the milk frother that came with my espresso machine, but you can purchase a handheld one at most home and kitchen stores or on Amazon.
- Small mixing bowl
- Mug
- Measuring spoons
- Almond milk (or similar non-dairy alternative)
- Raw honey (or natural sweetener of choice)
- Cinnamon (optional)
- 1 tsp finely ground organic matcha
- ⅓ cup hot water
- ⅔ cup unsweetened almond or coconut milk
- ½ tsp raw honey (optional)
- Pinch of cinnamon (optional)
- Using a bamboo whisk, combine the matcha and hot water in a small bowl until the powder dissolves and a thick green liquid forms. Set aside.
- Using a milk frother, allow the nutmilk to heat up and foam to your desired texture.
- Pour the hot nutmilk and matcha into a mug and stir in honey.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon to taste, if desired.
No frother? No whisk? No problem! This latte can be made without the use of a milk frother. Just heat up the nutmilk in a saucepan until it’s hot, but not boiling. Then use the bamboo whisk to froth the milk by hand before adding it to your mug. If you don’t have a frother or a whisk, heat the nutmilk up in a saucepan and add all the ingredients to a blender. This will help dissolve the matcha tea powder and create a frothy consistency. Use caution when blending hot liquids. Start the blender on low and work your way up, while covering the opening with a kitchen cloth (instead of a lid).
Matcha is extremely sensitive to both light and heat so it’s best to store it in a dark place to preserve freshness. If you’re not planning on using it often, keeping it in the fridge or freezer will help maximize it’s shelf life. I hope you guys enjoy this latte as much as I do! Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
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