Matcha Green Tea Latte

Green tea lattes have been a relatively new rage among coffee shops. The problem with these lattes, though, is that they add tons of sugar and cream that counteracts the health benefits of green tea.

For example, Starbuck’s popular Green Tea Latte made with Matcha has 55 grams of sugar per 16 ounce serving. All of this sugar comes from simple syrup and dairy because the Matcha itself has no sugar whatsoever.

In fact, Matcha is a nutritional powerhouse!

Health Benefits of Matcha Green Tea

• 100x More Antioxidants Than Any Other Tea: Tea is known for its high amounts of antioxidants, specifically catechins. Catechins are the most potent and beneficial of all antioxidants. One particular catechin, EGCg, makes up 60% of Matcha Tea and it is recognized as a cancer-fighting antioxidant. Scientists discovered that Matcha has 100x more EGCg than any other tea.
• Enhances Mood, Memory, Concentration, and Relaxation: Matcha is very high in the amino acid L-theanine, which relaxes the body through alpha waves in the brain without causing drowsiness. As a result, the L-theanine promotes the production of dopamine and serotonin to enhance mood, memory, and concentration.
• Burns Fat and Calories: Matcha has been shown to boost metabolism 4x faster than average to burn fat naturally.
• Detoxifies the Body: During the last few weeks of growing the matcha tea leaves, the bush is covered from light to enhance the green color. As a result, matcha produces very high levels of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll can help rid the body of chemicals and harmful heavy metals.

With all these great health benefits, anyone would want to drink this, right?

Well, most people don’t really like the taste of pure matcha. It has a very strong earthy flavor (some have even gone so far to call it “dirt-tasting”), which can be off-putting to those used to sweet teas. Fortunately, this Matcha Green Tea Latte gives all the you all the same antioxidants of the tea with a a creamy, frothy, warm base intermixed with the spices of cinnamon, nutmeg, and turmeric for an extra nutrition boost.

You can find matcha tea powder in your specialty foods store, health store, oriental store, or online.

I’d like to make a note that matcha’s L-theanine is supposed to work with the naturally occurring caffeine to create a calm alertness. I am very sensitive to caffeine, however, and I did get very jittery the first time I drank this on an empty stomach. While it doesn’t have as much caffeine as a cup of coffee, if you tend to be extra-sensitive to it I would try drinking half a teaspoon of matcha first to try it out. To compare, Matcha has 70mg of caffeine per serving, coffee has 150mg per serving, and regular green tea has about 35mg per serving.