Matcha Latte is the It drink of the season and replaces the beloved cappuccino. It wakes you up, tastes super fine and is super healthy despite the high caffeine content. Why matcha is so good for your body, what you need to know and how to prepare matcha tea or matcha latte perfectly.

Matcha Latte: The most important things in brief

• Matcha powder consists of finely ground green tea, which is obtained from young leaf tips. More
• Due to the amino acids and antioxidants, Matcha is particularly healthy. More
• The caffeine content in a matcha tea is about as high as in an espresso. More
• With these four steps you create a traditional matcha tea or a matcha latte. To the recipe

  The green hot drink from Japan is becoming increasingly popular in Europe: More and more people are replacing their morning coffee with Matcha Latte. Because like coffee, matcha also contains caffeine , but is much better for the body and wakes you up more gently. Why matcha is so good and a recipe that guarantees you a successful drink.

  What is matcha?

  Matcha is finely ground green tea. Only young leaf tips of Tencha tea are used for the bright green powder. These tencha leaves are dried and then ground into a fine powder in stone or granite mills. The process is time-consuming: it takes an hour to extract 30 grams of matcha.

  Why is matcha so healthy?

  Matcha has higher levels of the stress-relieving amino acid L-theanine than regular green tea, and it can help with stress. Although matcha contains caffeine, L-theanine reduces its stimulating effect and you get long-lasting energy. L-theanine can also increase the production of happy hormones. Matcha tea has about the caffeine content of an espresso and is a really healthy pick-me-up.

  Matcha, like other green tea, contains a lot of antioxidants. These are particularly good for your body because they protect against «free radicals». These are intermediate products that the body produces during metabolism and trigger oxidative stress . The green powder also contains vitamins A, B, C and E as well as catechins (fat burners).

  Is matcha better than coffee?

  Matcha is definitely the healthier pick-me-up than coffee . The caffeine content in Matcha is about as high as in an espresso. Since caffeine, unlike in coffee, is not isolated but is bound to the tannins in tea, matcha is easier to digest.

  This is how you recognize good matcha

  You can recognize high-quality matcha at first glance: the color should be bright green. For high-quality products, only the leaves are used and ground by hand. On the other hand, less good products are processed industrially and often with the stalk, which makes the color appear more greyish to brownish green. The taste is then rather tart, good Matcha should taste slightly bitter and mildly sweet.

  This is how Matcha Latte or classic Matcha tea is prepared

  The first step of preparation is the same for both Matcha Latte and Matcha tea. For both drinks, you first prepare a matcha shot.

  What you need for your Matcha:

  • Matcha powder
  • Matcha Whisk (Chasen)
  • Curved bamboo spoon (alternatively normal spoon)
  • shell (chawan)

  Step 1 : Put two tablespoons of matcha (1 g) in a den chawan or in a small bowl. If you sieve the matcha beforehand, it will be even more foamy.

  2 step: Pour 100 ml of water with 80 °C water. The water must not boil, otherwise the matcha will burn and taste bitter. Maybe you have a kettle with a temperature display or you fill 3 dl of cold water into a liter of boiling water.

  Step 3 : Mix the matcha and water gently with the dampened Chasen bamboo whisk. When there are no more lumps, you can make quick zigzag movements for twenty seconds until a light green foam forms on the surface. The foamier the better. Then the Matcha Shot is ready for further processing.

  4 step : If you want a matcha tea , fill the shot up with water and you can enjoy the Japanese drink. If you want a matcha latte , you can froth milk and fill up your matcha shot with it.

  Hot tip: If you want to create a matcha latte like at Starbucks, you can add a dash of vanilla syrup, agave syrup or honey.

  By the way: Matcha Latte tastes particularly delicious with almond, oat or other milk alternatives .