For those who have never heard of Matcha tea before, you are in for a treat, here. For those of you who have heard of it, this is a Matcha Latte recipe using coconut milk which will blow you away.
A short time after I left university, I started working for a high-end tea company called Tea Palace. I worked from the office which was also the warehouse, and I can tell you that you have never been surrounded by such incredible smells. The warehouse was brimming with huge boxes full of everything from rosebuds to orange peel to vanilla pods; and, of course, endless boxes of the most incredible loose leaf tea – some of which smelt like freshly-cut grass. It was amazing. All day long we sipped on different cups of deliciousness, including the likes of this Matcha Latte with Coconut Milk.
About six months into my time working at Tea Palace, my main man Nick suddenly announced that he too was going to start working for a tea company – and none other than our biggest rival, Jing Tea! Well, the competition was on and before we knew it we had become the most ridiculous tea boars – we chatted leaf grade over cups of Phoenix Honey Orchid Oolong at breakfast. You know, that sort of cool behaviour! Well thankfully, I missed my foodie ways too much and so left the world of tea and the conversations broadened to include things like celeriac and juicing as well. Jokes aside though, those years opened my eyes big time and I am now a fully-fledged fan of all things tea.
So many of us think of the tea world as a cup of Tetley’s, Yorkshire Gold or maybe even a herbal something here and there. But once you open your eyes to what is out there, I promise you there is as much variety and quality as you would find in the world of wine or champagne. The prices can be up there in the thousands as well, I can tell you!
One of my favourite discoveries was Matcha tea. Matcha is a typically Japanese tea made from green tea leaves with an intensely dark green colour. These are then ground down to form a powder. Typically, a ceremony involving lots of whisking and hot water ensues and the result is a very concentrated drink which is packed full of vitamins and minerals and something called L-Theanine. L-Theanine is similar to caffeine and provides the body with a really fantastic energy kick which helps to improve concentration and alertness – just what you need when you are lagging at 3pm in the afternoon… and my Matcha Latte with Coconut Milk makes for the best combo!
A good Matcha drink needs a lot of whisking – whether you are making it with water, coconut milk or whatever. It can get very lumpy if not. All in all, however, it makes one of the world’s best warm pick-me-ups and does a whole lot of goodness for the body at the same time.
MATCHA GREEN TEA LATTE WITH COCONUT MILK
- 235ml (1 cup) of unsweetened coconut milk
- ½ teaspoon of Matcha powder
- Pinch of allspice or cinnamon
- Honey to taste (if required)
- Heat the coconut milk in a pan over a gentle heat until it comes to the boil.
- Place the Matcha powder in a cup and add around 1 tablespoon of the hot milk to the cup and make a paste. Once the lumps are all gone, add the remaining milk and stir through the paste.
- Sprinkle the allspice or cinnamon over the top and sweeten with a little drizzle of honey if you like.
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