The many merits of matcha tea: I'm sold.
So I've recently been trying to wean myself off of coffee and onto matcha tea. In case you don't know, matcha tea is a powdered japanese green tea.
Photo taken from matchasource.com so you can see how beautiful green this stuff is (also, <3 matchasource, more on that in a minute).
Why matcha? Because it is powdered, when you make the tea you are actually *drinking* the tea leaves, not just brewing with them and throwing them out. A few different sources I've read say that an 8oz cup of matcha has 137 times as many antioxidants as regular green tea merely because you're consuming the leaves (insane!) The antioxidants themselves along with the small amount of caffeine give you slow sustained energy rather than jittery coffee energy (and I have actually noticed this to be true). Also, I've read in several sources that matcha tea or roobios tea powder is really good for runners to consume because it helps your body repair and recover faster. And I'm somewhat vain and obsessed with trying not to look old, and it has anti-aging properties too. haha.
Also, coffee has been destroying me. I'm teaching a morning class this quarter, which means I get up very early to finish lecture prep and shower and get on the bus. By the time I'm done teaching I've usually consumed 2-3 cups of coffee to compensate for the lack of sleep I'd gotten, and then I'm too wired to do anything useful. I crash hard in the evening, then wake up and can't sleep until really late... which leads to needing still MORE coffee the next morning when I have to get up early. Also coffee is really really dehydrating, so I'd always feel crappy from that, and the energy ups/downs were starting to mess with my race training.
The drawback is that this stuff is *expensive.* There are generally 3 grades you can buy: ceremony, regular, and low quality. Ceremony is made only of small young leaves on the top of the plants and there are special tea ceremonies for preparing it traditionally. Low quality has some stems powdered in with the leaves and also has fewer amino acids. It's often recommended that the lower-grade kind be blended into a latte or somesuch, or sprinkled on food, since it's not quite as tasty as the expensive stuff. From what I gather, the quality of tea doesn't effect the quantity of antioxidants--rather, just the quantity of amino acids.
I did some comparison shopping on matchasource.com (they have a lot of information on their site too) and ultimately ended up purchasing the "gotcha matcha"--the lowest quality (they call it cafe grade). Clicking on that link will make you choke on the price... I got the smallest container, because apparently it isn't as good after 4 weeks open in the fridge or so. And also because it's so freaking expensive. Amazon has some cheaper matcha teas but I felt confident through matchasource about the quality of product I was getting. One of the Amazon sellers had a spoon of regular grade matcha powder next to the stuff they bought on amazon, and the amazon stuff was BROWN compared to the bright green that matcha is supposed to be. Since I'm in it more for the health than the taste, I wanted it to be at least reasonably green. Matchasource also got my order to me insanely fast (2 days? 3? and I'm across the country) and they sometimes have coupon specials if you follow them on twitter. Waiting to see how long this 80g will last me so I can see how much it costs me per day to have a cup a day, and then I can decide if it's too expensive, I guess. (But I am buying less coffee so maybe it evens out eventually).
Originally I was drinking it straight (just water and tea) but because I don't have a bamboo tea whisk the powder is often a bit ...chunky at the bottom. So I started mixing a little hot water with the powder, then adding the rest of about 8oz water. Then I add some soy or almond milk and a drizzle of agave. It's really good. Do be careful not to drink it on a completely empty stomach though--it makes me feel a little nauseous if I do that. The internets seem to suggest it's either from the tannins in the tea or from your liver detoxing from the antioxidants. But it's fine after food.
As good as matcha is, it's hard to give up coffee and do my job. It seems like nearly everything centers around "oh let's meet for coffee to talk about it." or "oh, let's get together for some coffee after x or y." It's both social and professional, rolled into one. Pair that with the fact that coffee is always readily available and matcha is not, and that I love coffee, and that black coffee is cheap, and that I *already* have limited options to purchase at a cafe due to being vegan and...well, it's been tough. I haven't actually gone cold turkey, but I've cut down to one cup a week. And I have noticed a difference in how I feel. I swear to god that going vegan was easier than weaning myself off coffee has been... and this isn't the first time I've tried to cut back. I love black coffee so much.
So... that's my little (or not so little) endorsement of matcha tea. If you're looking for something new to try, check it out.
Photo taken from matchasource.com so you can see how beautiful green this stuff is (also, <3 matchasource, more on that in a minute).
Why matcha? Because it is powdered, when you make the tea you are actually *drinking* the tea leaves, not just brewing with them and throwing them out. A few different sources I've read say that an 8oz cup of matcha has 137 times as many antioxidants as regular green tea merely because you're consuming the leaves (insane!) The antioxidants themselves along with the small amount of caffeine give you slow sustained energy rather than jittery coffee energy (and I have actually noticed this to be true). Also, I've read in several sources that matcha tea or roobios tea powder is really good for runners to consume because it helps your body repair and recover faster. And I'm somewhat vain and obsessed with trying not to look old, and it has anti-aging properties too. haha.
Also, coffee has been destroying me. I'm teaching a morning class this quarter, which means I get up very early to finish lecture prep and shower and get on the bus. By the time I'm done teaching I've usually consumed 2-3 cups of coffee to compensate for the lack of sleep I'd gotten, and then I'm too wired to do anything useful. I crash hard in the evening, then wake up and can't sleep until really late... which leads to needing still MORE coffee the next morning when I have to get up early. Also coffee is really really dehydrating, so I'd always feel crappy from that, and the energy ups/downs were starting to mess with my race training.
The drawback is that this stuff is *expensive.* There are generally 3 grades you can buy: ceremony, regular, and low quality. Ceremony is made only of small young leaves on the top of the plants and there are special tea ceremonies for preparing it traditionally. Low quality has some stems powdered in with the leaves and also has fewer amino acids. It's often recommended that the lower-grade kind be blended into a latte or somesuch, or sprinkled on food, since it's not quite as tasty as the expensive stuff. From what I gather, the quality of tea doesn't effect the quantity of antioxidants--rather, just the quantity of amino acids.
I did some comparison shopping on matchasource.com (they have a lot of information on their site too) and ultimately ended up purchasing the "gotcha matcha"--the lowest quality (they call it cafe grade). Clicking on that link will make you choke on the price... I got the smallest container, because apparently it isn't as good after 4 weeks open in the fridge or so. And also because it's so freaking expensive. Amazon has some cheaper matcha teas but I felt confident through matchasource about the quality of product I was getting. One of the Amazon sellers had a spoon of regular grade matcha powder next to the stuff they bought on amazon, and the amazon stuff was BROWN compared to the bright green that matcha is supposed to be. Since I'm in it more for the health than the taste, I wanted it to be at least reasonably green. Matchasource also got my order to me insanely fast (2 days? 3? and I'm across the country) and they sometimes have coupon specials if you follow them on twitter. Waiting to see how long this 80g will last me so I can see how much it costs me per day to have a cup a day, and then I can decide if it's too expensive, I guess. (But I am buying less coffee so maybe it evens out eventually).
Originally I was drinking it straight (just water and tea) but because I don't have a bamboo tea whisk the powder is often a bit ...chunky at the bottom. So I started mixing a little hot water with the powder, then adding the rest of about 8oz water. Then I add some soy or almond milk and a drizzle of agave. It's really good. Do be careful not to drink it on a completely empty stomach though--it makes me feel a little nauseous if I do that. The internets seem to suggest it's either from the tannins in the tea or from your liver detoxing from the antioxidants. But it's fine after food.
As good as matcha is, it's hard to give up coffee and do my job. It seems like nearly everything centers around "oh let's meet for coffee to talk about it." or "oh, let's get together for some coffee after x or y." It's both social and professional, rolled into one. Pair that with the fact that coffee is always readily available and matcha is not, and that I love coffee, and that black coffee is cheap, and that I *already* have limited options to purchase at a cafe due to being vegan and...well, it's been tough. I haven't actually gone cold turkey, but I've cut down to one cup a week. And I have noticed a difference in how I feel. I swear to god that going vegan was easier than weaning myself off coffee has been... and this isn't the first time I've tried to cut back. I love black coffee so much.
So... that's my little (or not so little) endorsement of matcha tea. If you're looking for something new to try, check it out.