I personally feel a debt of gratitude to the person
who discovered green tea. There are definite health benefits from drinking
green tea that other teas (e.g., black and oolong) do not have. Some of the
studies do not take into account other things such as diet and exercise, but
because its antioxidants (specifically catechins) are more concentrated, it does
a more efficient job of eliminating free radicals than other teas. A link to
the WebMD article about the benefits of green tea is found in the links
section.
Lately I’ve been trying to drink green tea (whether
hot or iced) everyday. Among my favorite forms of green tea are: maeda-en
sen-cha, Crystal Light Raspberry Green Tea and Great Value decaffeinated green
tea bags.
One of my sisters-in-law, knowing of my fondness
for green, gave me an assortment of loose-leaf green tea for Christmas. She
also gave me a tea infuser, which works much better than the tea ball I used to
use. It’s easier to clean and there are no concerns about it accidentally
coming open while brewing the tea!
When brewing green tea, it’s important that the
water is not at the boiling point. I usually boil the water, then let it cool
down for about a minute and a half. Brew it for about three minutes to be sure
the catechins are at full strength.
Matcha (powdered green tea) is used for the
Japanese tea ceremony. However, it can be added to many items. The best known
is probably ice cream. The ingredients are a pint of vanilla ice cream
(softened, but not melted) plus one tablespoon of matcha and one tablespoon of
lukewarm water. Put half the ice cream in a bowl, add the matcha/water mixture,
mix with thoroughly with a rubber spatula, add the rest of the ice cream and
continue stirring until it’s whatever color you prefer (marbled green and white
or uniform pale green). Freeze for at least at an hour and you have your own
green tea ice cream.
At Jamba Juice, my favorite smoothie is the Matcha
Green Tea Blast. I’ve also made my own green tea smoothie and found it tastes
as good as the one at Jamba Juice. It also is substantially less expensive, as
well as being lower in carbohydrates.
I’ve also added matcha to waffle mix (one teaspoon
per two cups of waffle mix), syrup (this is added to taste, no definite amount)
and white cake mix. For the cake mix I added a little less than two
tablespoons. I’ve also added it to microwave mochi. A recipe for a matcha
smoothie can be found in the links.
Matcha and loose green tea leaves can be found at
Japanese grocery stores and many Asian grocery stores. I’ve also found matcha
at Wal-mart.
Green tea – it tastes good and it’s good for you.
What could be better?
Links:
