What is Matcha?

Matcha is a type of Japanese green tea powder.

Japanese teas have been gaining popularity in the United States over the last few years although Matcha has been part of the Japanese diet for much longer. (You might have seen it at your local Starbucks coffee shops in the form of an iced latte? I have a good matcha latte Starbucks copycat easy recipe here!)

There are a few differences in how you consume traditional matcha tea vs green tea though, which I'll elaborate on below.

Note: there are 2 grades of matcha, the more expensive, higher quality ceremonial grade matcha and the more affordable culinary grade matcha. The former is a brighter green, with a sweeter taste.

VS Green Tea

Green tea powder cookie on the left, matcha cookie on the right.

Matcha is basically young green tea leaves, from Camellia Sinensis tea plants.

They are grown under shade for 20-30 days to increase the chlorophyll content, before the matcha leaves are ground into a fine powder. (This also boosts the amino acids content, such as the L-theanine level, which is believed to have beneficial effects on human health.)

With regular green tea, you steep the whole green tea leaves (or tea bags) in hot water, drink the resulting tea then toss the tea leaves away. When you drink matcha, you ingest the entire tea leaf- the powder doesn't actually dissolve in water but is actually suspended in it.

You have to sift the matcha powder to get rid of clumping, then whisk the matcha and hot water together in a circular motion to form a foamy tea that you drink.

For information on matcha's health benefits and FAQ, scroll down to the bottom of the post.

Matcha Soda

You can add some club soda to the matcha syrup or cold matcha drink to make a super quick & easy matcha soda.

Matcha Latte ????

Keeping matcha syrup on hand makes it easy to whip up matcha lattes!

Vegan Matcha Latte

Note: you can also use other non-dairy milks such as oat milk, soy milk, coconut milk, cashew milk, almond milk etc (Remember to use maple syrup instead of bone char sugar or honey!)

You'll actually get a healthier mug of green tea latte this way, as research has shown that adding cow's milk to tea reduces its health benefits. (Specifically, it reduces its vascular protection.)

Matcha Masala Chai Latte

Make a big batch of this Masala Chai Concentrate and it'll make whisking up this green tea chai latte, as well as other chai lattes, possible in seconds!

Starbucks Matcha Chai Latte

This easy copycat recipe makes a delicious spiced Starbucks Matcha Chai Latte recipe using only 4 ingredients and 5 minutes! It's delicious both hot on a cold day or iced in summer and allows you to easily recreate your coffee house experience at home!

Click here for matcha green tea chai

Korean Cookies

Too pretty to eat, almost!

These no bake dessert cookies go really well with Korean plum tea or boricha/ barley tea!

Korean green tea and omija dasik no-bake cookies

I've been to Korea 8 times- fell in love with it after visiting for a friend's wedding in 2010 which led me to start an online shop selling Korean beauty products in Singapore!- and had these cookies several times. However, I never knew that they didn't need to be baked. How cool is that!

Click here for the Korean cookies.

? Other Bakes

Matcha Mochi Bites

If you're on a plant-based diet, you can make vegan mochi muffins!

Easy Matcha Mochi Muffin recipe

An easy matcha mochi muffin recipe that is naturally gluten-free. It's a perfect no mixer mini cake recipe for those who have celiac disease or who don't overly sweet desserts!

Click here for the Green Tea Mochi Cupcake recipe.

Cupcakes

If you're not a fan of the gooeyness of glutinous rice flour and mochi, try these regular cupcakes!

Matcha cupcakes

Matcha latte, but in the form of a cupcake.

Click here for the cupcake recipe

Chinese Mochi

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3. 27 Easy Matcha Recipes (Sweet & Savory)