Across the world, cafes, restaurants, and coffee shops are adding matcha green tea powder to their staples. Almost all coffee shops now offer matcha beverages as an alternative to coffee. And why wouldn’t they! Matcha is a delicious, energizing, and healthy Japanese green tea that deserves attention.
So what are the main reasons everyone’s making the switch?
1. Matcha's Green Color
When compared to other green teas, matcha undeniably has the most vivid green color of them all! This is because the green tea leaf powder is fully mixed with the water. While some potent green teas come close, like gyokuro, most remain a pleasant light green.
Scientifically green is known to evoke the emotions of happiness, rebirth, freshness, abundance, peace, security, rest—the feelings of growth.
It is no wonder that when we drink frothy, emerald-green matcha midday, we are immediately uplifted just by looking at its energizing green color!
For this reason, we recommend buying matcha only from trusted vendors. A dull, swampy-green matcha powder color may signify that the matcha is either old or of very low quality. Good quality matcha green tea powder should be a vibrant green color.
2. Matcha Is Easy To Use
Matcha has a variety of uses, from traditional ceremonial drinks and daily beverages to cocktails, food, and desserts!
Because matcha already comes in powdered form, we can easily use it in a variety of matcha dessert recipes, such as cakes, cookies, puddings, and ice cream.
Savory matcha recipes also deserve some recognition, like barbecue rubs, salad dressings, noodles, curries, and more!
While loose-leaf tea can also be incorporated into many recipes, matcha is easy to use because it comes in a powdered form. Furthermore, everyone will be pleased with the dish's fantastic green color.
When speaking of tea, if you are looking for some quick energy throughout the day, our go-to is a quickly whisked matcha!
If you are in a rush, another way to make a quick matcha green tea is to put the matcha powder directly in your water bottle or thermos (make sure to sift it so there are no clumps). Then shake it up! It’s that easy to have a quick, energizing, and mood-uplifting beverage! Although we always prefer to spend the extra time carefully whisking the matcha using a chasen and chawan, the “shaken matcha” method is a good last-minute go-to!
Read more about matcha recipes.
3. Matcha Health Benefits
Matcha has an edge over most other tea types when it comes to health benefits, since you consume the whole leaf rather than an infusion, giving you meaningfully more antioxidants, L-theanine, and nutrients per serving than steeped green tea.
Matcha also contains high levels of EGCG – an antioxidant with strong anti-carcinogenic, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties. A common belief is that it can help reduce inflammation and help prevent brain and heart disease. Out of all tea types, the most significant amounts of EGCG are found in matcha, gyokuro, and certain kinds of white tea.
4. Matcha Caffeine Content
Matcha's caffeine content is often higher than that of other teas. This is because the tea leaves are not infused; instead, the whole powder is dissolved in the water. So naturally, we are consuming all the caffeine and energy the tea leaf has to give.
The good news is that the caffeine content of a cup of matcha is generally still about half of the caffeine you’d get from a cup of coffee. Plus, no post-coffee caffeine crash!
The caffeine in matcha, in combination with the antioxidant L-theanine, keeps us alert and motivated, without over-stimulating our brain and nervous system.
Read more on the tea caffeine content
