If you’ve been following my journey long enough you’d know that I recently gave up coffee for 90 days (as a personal experiment) to see how I felt afterwards and I have to say that while, I’m pretty chuffed with myself. I didn’t think it would be easy to go days without my morning cuppa but with time, it got easier and I started to feel healthier. My skin improved, my stomach felt better and for the first time in months, I was sleeping like a baby. Click here to read my entire tryst with coffee.
What you may not know is that while I used herbal teas to tide me over every time I was craving a cuppa and a few weeks into the challenge, a friend sent over a matcha kit. The wellness blogosphere has been raving and ranting about the benefits of matcha and just how diverse it is. I don’t like matcha in my ice cream but I love a well made matcha drink. Unlike coffee, I don’t get jittery or anxious and surprisingly, it doesn’t affect my sleep either.
What is matcha? Well, I thought you might ask. Aside from the tiny bit that makes its way into ice cream, cupcakes and green tea based desserts, matcha is green tea powder exclusively from Japan that is brimming with antioxidants that are good for heart health and immune boosting benefits. Although available in many varieties, the ceremonial grade is the most expensive and highly sought after by chefs, wellness gurus and plant based food enthusiasts.
Why do people love it so much? Well, it is a great alternative to coffee because even though it contains caffeine, it allows for sustained energy release and not the jitters associated with too many cups of black coffee. Matcha is a great source of chlorophyll which means it is a great immune boosting food for your body and incredible for gut health too.
How does a matcha enthusiast prep their drink?
Take a tsp of matcha in a bowl
Add 2-5 ml of water that’s almost come to a boil
Whisk vigorously in a zig zag fashion until you see the liquid becoming frothy. Use a bamboo whisk to get the desired result.
Add a milk of your choice. I personally love coconut or almond milk but it tastes perfectly fine with other milks too.
You can choose to add stevia or honey to sweeten.
Make sure that the matcha you buy is premium grade and doesn’t contain any sweeteners or added colour.
Taste test- okay, i’ll be honest, the first time I tried a matcha latte at a cafe in paris many years ago, it was so hiding under layers of foam and sugar so I couldn’t tell what matcha really tasted like. Since I got hold of Tea Trunk’s range of matcha with activated charcoal and the regular matcha- I’ve started to whip them up several ways to see which one I like best. I tried it with hot water, the way it’s drunk traditionally and I have to say that it’s an acquired taste. With almond milk and a few cubes of ice- this is my favourite go-to on a hot summer day because It is refreshing and helps me get back to work within minutes and then there’s my daily recipe with 1 tsp of tea trunk in a hot water. I add a tbsp MCT oil, unsweetened almond milk and stevia.
So whether you are a matcha lover or new to the matcha trend, let Tea Trunk initiate you and make tea time in your home an extremely therapeutic experience. You can now buy their mint matcha, activated charcoal matcha and their matcha with a bamboo whisk and mixing bowl here.
About Tea Trunk-
The brand is served and retailed at over 200 niche stores, boutique cafes, delis, award-winning restaurants, five star hotels and spas across India. They also ship worldwide through their online store. The brand incorporates whole leaf teas with all natural ingredients so tea time becomes a beautiful affair.
About Snigdha Manchanda
Snigdha has trained under Japanese Tea Master, Nao Kumekawa,
and received her certificate as a Tea Sommelier in 2011 from the
Tea Sommelier Academy in Sri Lanka. She is an empanelled
author and spokesperson for Tea Board of India. Snigdha’s vision
is to set up a global learning hub for Tea, in India. She believes,
India without a Tea school is like France without a Wine school.
