Some days, finding energy is difficult. Instead of getting up and facing the world, I’d rather eat lots of chocolate while lying in bed and reading excerpts from old novels for the fun of it.
Whenever I try to aim for this, reality comes and smacks me in the face usually earlier in the morning than I’d like and usually when I’m feeling particularly sleepy.
Queue Matcha tea.
Last year, I attended my first tea and coffee festival (yes, they exist). Half of Dublin were there and the RDS had an over-powering coffee scent that made me want to have about 20 million lattes. Amongst the coffee stands, there were some green glowing ones that caught my attention. They were well and truly alive with Matcha.
Matcha is an energy tea from Asia. It was drank by warriors before they went into battle because of its ability to clear their heads and give them enough power to keep moving for the night. It comes in powder form and can be used in a number of ways. The cool fact is that it has 137 times the antioxidants that normal green tea has which means that it’s healthier and STRONGER.
Prepare yourselves as you only need a small amount to blow your minds (in a good way).
Aside from the energy, what really caught my attention were its healing properties. The salesman told us a story of how he had been in a car accident and had drank matcha as part of his recovery. He described how his doctors were even surprised by the speed of his recovery.
I was sold right there and then.
Since then I’ve drank it in a number of forms.
* Mixed with yoghurt. As I like yoghurt, I mix a tiny bit of matcha in with it. It doesn’t taste unreal but it gets the job done.
* As part of a juice or smoothie concoction. Matcha with orange juice is easy and manageable. It tastes delish and doesn’t work out expensive.
* In a latte. My new craze has been almond milk (YUM) with matcha. It tastes unbelievable and is better for you than a normal latte as it’s not dairy which can be hard on human stomachs.
* Tea (obviously). You can make a nice matcha tea. Ensure it isn’t boiling hot water (let it cool for a bit) and if you have one of those tiny blenders then use that otherwise you might end up with powdery green teeth.
Note *** I tend to mix the powder with a tiny bit of cold water before adding it to ANYTHING as this makes it blend better.***
There are many benefits (apart from what I’ve mentioned). Some of which are:
* It relieves anxiety and stress. I personally can suffer a little with such modern day challenges and so, finding matcha has been a god-send. In the morning time, it give a focus and calms my stomach and heart-rate (where I tend to feel it).
* Speaking of sore tummies, I’ve found it valuable for other ailments including hangovers, recovery from general upset and as a way to counteract my irritable bowel (resulting from food or drink).
*As I mentioned above, when it feels like the energy has been sucked out of me, matcha offers a surge.
Wondering where you can buy this magic tea?
* The type I’ve been using is Koyu Matcha (the best value I’ve found). Depending on where you are in the world, there are thousands of other brands. Another is Tea Pigs which is available in Ireland and the UK.
* If you’re jaunting through town and fancy going for a coffee, then try a Matcha latte. You can now get them in KC Peaches (Dublin) and Insomnia cafes are doing Vanilla (yum) Matcha lattes which I have yet to try.
If you know of anywhere else to get matcha, matcha lattes, be sure to comment below for the benefit of other readers. In the meantime, I’ll be finding other ways to make my life healthier.