Matcha – Nature’s Antioxidant

With warm summer days on the horizon, many of us are switching from warm lattes to refreshing iced drinks. One of our favorite go-to drinks for sunny days here at Nourish Coffee + Kitchen is our iced matcha. Top it with a vanilla or strawberry (pictured) cold foam and you really have the perfect summer-time treat.

Although you may find the strong, somewhat earthy flavor a bit much at first, matcha is know for being an aquired taste and will often win you over within your first few tries! While we will always recommend this delicious drink for its flavor, matcha offers a lot more than just a treat for your taste buds. It is a powerhouse of natural antioxidants and has so many amazing health benefits.

So what is matcha, and what makes it so good for you? Matcha is harvested from the camellia sinensis plant – the same plant that your cup of green tea originates from! But just because it

comes from the same plant does not make it the same thing. Green tea leaves grow in the sun, turn a dark green/brown color, are machine harvested, and then are shipped to a processing plant to be steamed, blowdried, and bagged. Matcha, on the other hand, is moved into the shade 3 weeks before harvesting to finish its growing period, promoting a higher concentration of chlorophyl and causing a much bolder, brighter green. We are also sure to use organic matcha, which eliminates the yucky pesticides and chemicals. When they are ready for harvest, the leaves are hand-picked to preserve only the best ones. The stems and veins are then removed to create a much higher potency level, and the leaves are ground into a fine powder.

Once it reaches our hands, we whisk the (always organic!) powder with RO filtered water, sweeten it with house-made vanilla syrup or local, raw honey, and add it to local, farm-fresh, non-homogenized milk.

As to why it’s so good for you, matcha contains high concentrations of antioxidants and L-theanine. Antioxidants protect your body’s cells from something called free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules that can cause damage to your DNA and cell-membrane, among other things. L-theanine is amino acids, which are building blocks of protiens and are essential for many bodily functions.

Another interesting benefit of the L-theanine in matcha is that it makes the caffeine significantly easier for your body to digest. This is because it causes a slower and more sustained release, which results in a longer-lasting energy boost without the jitters or crash that often follows a cup of coffe. And while it does contain caffeine, it’s reduced to up to half the amount compared to coffee.

Between all of these things, the benefits of matcha inlcude – but are not limited to – lowering blood pressure and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels, enhancing concentration, lowering anxiety, improving metabolism, and promoting healthy digestion.

All things considered, we think matcha is pretty amazing! Have you tried it yet? What were your thoughts? Are you ‘team-can’t-get-enough’ or ‘team-thanks-but-no’? Let us know in the comments!