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Sparkling Matcha – A Cooling Summer Drink
Recently I have been seeing a lot about Matcha and have been wondering about trying it. I love green tea and it is meant to have many properties that are good for your health. It has large amounts of antioxidants, is meant to increase your metabolism helping you burn fat and can also help you concentrate. Matcha is a powder which is made from green tea that has been grown in the shade to increase the amount of theanine and chlorophyll in the plant. Chlorophyll makes the plant green so more cholorophyll means a greener plant. Theanine is a compound that acts to increase mental focus. After the leaves are picked they are processed to make a green powder. The matcha powder can be used in making a cup of green tea or added to different recipes. As it has been so warm recently I decided to try it out in a cooling summer drink, sparkling matcha.
I used Organic Matcha from Kiss Me Organics which has 137 times the antioxidants of a cup of tea. When you get the matcha you also get a recipe book emailed to you which gives you lots of ideas on how to use the matcha. Not only can you use it to make tea, you can mix it into biscuits, cakes, soups, stews, smoothies and many other things. This is a great way of including the benefits of its nutritional and antioxidant properties into your diet. The matcha is an acquired taste, if you do not like green tea you will not like it. The green tea flavour is much more intense and you only need to use a little bit of the matcha. It does make a nice cup of tea but it is much more fun to mix it up into different recipes.
To make the sparkling matcha drink I mixed up half a teaspoon of matcha powder in some warm water until it dissolved. Ice cubes were then added to the water and I filled up the glass with sparkling water. To add a summery kick I poured in some lime juice. The result was a beautiful green drink that was full of flavour and a pleasure to drink in the sunshine.
I was wondering if I would notice any of the benefits of matcha after drinking it and was surprised to find that I did feel like I had more energy. I also felt more focused and able to concentrate on the things I had to do. It gave me a definite boost. I have no idea if I burnt more calories, but hopefully if I drink it on a regular basis I will see the difference. I have used the matcha a few different ways since then and am sure it is helping me to concentrate after I drink it.
Kiss Me Matcha Green Tea Powder – Powerful Antioxidant Japanese Organic Culinary Grade is available on Amazon and is 100% organic and has been tested for purity. The culinary grade matcha is normally RRP £20 for a 4oz bag. The bag is resealable so the matcha should keep well.
Sparkling Matcha Recipe
Sparkling Matcha
Ingredients
- 1 tsp matcha powder
- ice cubes
- sparkling water
- lime juice
Instructions
- Place the matcha powder in a glass and add a little warm water.
- Stir until blended
- Add the ice to the glass
- Top up with sparkling water
- Add lime juice until you have the required taste.
- A lime wedge can be used as garnish
I was sent the matcha in return for an honest review, the opinions and photos are my own.
Cheryl @ Madhouse Family Reviews says
I made Matcha & White Chocolate Muffins recently, if you want another recipe to try – they are equally green !
Dragons and Fairy Dust says
oooh will have a look. I have a little book of recipes so may well be creating more green things soon
Lucy @ BakingQueen74 says
Matcha and lime, sounds delicious yum! Must try this.
Dragons and Fairy Dust says
It was lovely, ideal for a hot day