I Tried Every Matcha Powder From The Spice & Tea Exchange And This Was My Favorite - Tasting Table

"Matcha seems to be everywhere these days, probably because it is; sales of the powder have skyrocketed in recent years. Originally, matcha was reserved for Buddhist Zen rituals and then widely used in Japanese tea ceremonies. But in the American culture of today, you can find matcha being used just about everywhere you look - including in lattes, cookies, ice cream, and cakes."

"Matcha is a fine powder that is made from young, shade-grown green tea leaves. When you have matcha, you're not just having brewed green tea, as with matcha, you're ingesting the buds and full leaves of the plant. You're also consuming more caffeine than green tea, which is probably the reason many people are reaching for a matcha latte over their usual morning cup of coffee. But it is also high in antioxidants and is believed to help memory, reduce anxiety and stress, have possible cancer-fighting properties, and many more health benefits."

"And all these things sound very promising. But one reason that has kept me from embracing matcha in my everyday routine is its flavor. Matcha has a reputation for being bitter, vegetal, and earthy. Thankfully, The Spice & Tea Exchange offered me the chance to experience all the matcha powder it offers to perhaps change my mind. With all options in hand, I got to work making matcha lattes. Instead of something grassy, I went in search of a tea flavor that was smooth, rich, and had acceptable amounts of umami. Here's how each of its matchas fared."

Matcha is a finely ground powder made from young, shade-grown green tea leaves and is consumed whole rather than brewed, supplying higher caffeine and antioxidant levels. Matcha originated in Buddhist Zen rituals and Japanese tea ceremonies and now appears widely in American foods and beverages such as lattes, cookies, ice cream, and cakes. Matcha is associated with potential benefits for memory, anxiety reduction, stress relief, and cancer prevention. Flavor can be bitter, vegetal, and earthy. Samples from The Spice & Tea Exchange were prepared as lattes to identify smoother, richer, umami-balanced options. Matcha is sold in ceremonial, daily, and culinary grades with differing caffeine and robustness.

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