Matcha: Drink To Your Health

I love when it’s easy to incorporate healthy foods into my diet and matcha is perhaps one of the easiest healthy swaps I’ve made. A year or two ago I started switching my afternoon coffee for matcha and have come to cherish it as an enjoyable, healthy afternoon pick-me-up. It has the energy giving properties I love in coffee, but none of the downsides like jitters or caffeine crashes. It also happens to boast a very long list of health benefits. More and more people are jumping on the matcha train, but have you ever tried to find high-quality matcha? For all the pretty matcha latte pictures flooding my Instagram feed, actually finding quality matcha has been challenging. But, I’ve recently found an awesome brand that checks all of the boxes and I have a discount code for you below!

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The better quality the matcha is, the more nutritious and better tasting it is. After trying many different brands, Encha Organic Matcha has come out on top. Not only is the quality there, but it’s certified organic and comes from their own farm in the Uji mountains of Kyoto, Japan. Authentic matcha comes from Japan and that particular region is best known for their matcha. This YouTube video shows a little more about their farm and it’s absolutely stunning!

The color and taste of matcha is a really good indicator of its quality. Good matcha hass a vibrant green color and has a smooth, slightly sweet taste. Unfortunately, lesser quality matcha can taste bitter and slightly astringent, so it can be a turn off if you don’t know how matcha is supposed to taste. All matcha comes in different grades, but the name can vary from brand to brand. Typically ceremonial grade matcha is the best. Encha Organic Matcha comes in Ceremonial-grade, Latte-grade, and Culinary-grade. I typically drink the ceremonial-grade, as it has the best taste. It’s very smooth and tastes really fresh. I can even whisk it up with hot water and enjoy it without adding anything else. I also enjoy making different matcha lattes as well, so occasionally I’ll use the Latte-grade matcha, which is also quite good.

Another thing that impressed me about Encha Organic Matcha is how much safety testing they do. They not only test their products for heavy metals, but they also conduct annual radioactivity tests (which is an issue in some parts of Japan, but not where they are located). The testing always comes back with great results and they are very transparent about all of it. You can see more about their safety testing here. 

Benefits

Matcha is touted as a super food for a good reason! These are some of the main benefits:

• Mental alertness
• Theanine plus caffeine give a gentle, stabilized energy they call zenergy (Encha shades their plants for about 3 weeks before harvest to produce extra theanine).
• High in antioxidants. Matcha contains catechins, a powerful antioxidant. (12% of Encha powder content is catechins)
• Cancer preventative
• Stimulates metabolism
• Strengthens immune system
• Has anti-inflammatory properties

How’s that for a healthy drink? If you want to give Encha Organic Matcha a try, you can find it here on Amazon and they’ve offered my readers 15% off using code E15Molly. Also, if you’re new to matcha or if you want to try out some fun recipes with it, I highly recommend the book Matcha: A Lifestyle Guide. It has a ton of great ideas!