I love matcha.
I love it prepared traditionally (as much as a white, Alaskan girl can...). I love it whisked into cold coconut milk with maple syrup. I love matcha lattes, and thrown into my smoothies too! Of course the stuff can be expensive. Especially if you're buying the ceremonial, high quality matcha.
However, there are several different grades of matcha. Simply, they can be organized into culinary matcha (used for recipes, baking, smoothies, etc.), quality drinking matcha (best for matcha drinkers who don't require a super high quality matcha for their tea...like me), and then finally ceremonial super-premium matcha (very expensive and I'm no where near rich or exquisitely-palated enough to purchase it, though sometimes I wish I was).
Matcha is so beneficial because it's basically the baby green tea leaves just completely pulverized, so you're consuming the entire leaf (as opposed to just soaking it in hot water, like most teas). Try buying regular green tea leaves in the bulk section and tossing them into your smoothies for equal nutrition but a little more wallet friendly. However, if it's the matcha taste you want, then it's best to use actual matcha. If it's solely the nutrition of the actual tea leaves though...give plain green tea leaves a try.
Today, I've created a smooth and creamy pudding made with chia seeds and non-dairy milk, featuring bright green matcha and sweetened with agave nectar. It's made with Kiss Me Organics Culinary Grade Organic Matcha, which was gifted to me to test.
I was thrilled to try this matcha. Normally, I buy matcha from an ethnic market in Anchorage, but it's the middle of the road matcha that I use for drinking and I would never put it in my smoothies or recipes. The Kiss Me Organics matcha is great for recipes though. It lends a bold matcha flavor that's perfect in dishes. I whisked it into cold coconut milk, which was wonderful. However, I didn't prefer it to my other matcha when drinking hot tea. No surprise there though, it's not for that!
Because I don't buy culinary grade matcha, I haven't made many recipes with it, so this was fun and exciting! I can't wait to possibly bake with it and make other fun matcha infused recipes.
I'll definitely buy this matcha again. It's $6.25 for one once. The same brand of matcha I normally buy is $13.65 for one ounce. The same brand, but culinary grade is $8.69 for one once and the ceremonial grade is $18.08 for one once, for comparison.
Have you added matcha to your recipes? What's your favorite way to use culinary matcha? I want to make cupcakes soon!
- 2 cups non-dairy milk of preference
- 6 Tbsp. chia seeds
- 2 Tbsp. agave nectar
- 2 tsp. culinary grade matcha
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- small pinch of kosher salt
- 6 fresh mint leaves
German Word of The Day
Green tea --> Grüntee (groon-teeh)
Good Deed of The Day
Guess what? You ladies can keep wearing yo' bras. Damn. Check out this article on the new study that was conducted to find out whether or not bra-wearing gave women an increased risk for breast cancer. It didn't
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Then, transfer to a small serving bowl and stir in the chia seeds. Place in the fridge, covered with saran wrap, for about one hour.
