My mother is a huge believer in home remedies, in herbs and plants to help soothe away your aches and pains. Burn your hand? Break off a bit of the aloe plant. Stomach ache? A soothing tea made of sarsaparilla root (which is apparently kinda dangerous…oops). My minor in college was Folklore, and I love this kind of stuff, different plants that supposedly help with different aches…I’ve seen it firsthand in my wife. She gets crazy bad migraines, and a good cup of mint tea can help her keep things under control. But I love the Red Leaf Teas website, especially their matchas, that list everything the plant involved in the flavoring can do. Take this tea, Pomegranate (http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/pomegranate-matcha.html), for instance:
Did you know that studies showed that pomegranate juice destroys breast cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone? It may also prevent breast cancer cells from forming.
Pomegranates also offer the following benefits to list a few :
Lung Cancer Prevention
Slows Prostate Cancer
Keeps PSA Levels Stable
Protects the Neonatal Brain
Prevention of Osteoarthritis
Protects the Arteries
Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention
Lowers Cholesterol
Lowers Blood Pressure
Dental Protection
taken from the Red Leaf Teas website.
Now, part of me just brushes most of that off, but the part of me that is my mother’s hippie daughter drinks this matcha just in case. My aunt recently started chemo to deal with her breast cancer, and one of the things that helped speed up the end of my grandmother’s life was breast cancer, so I don’t mess around with it. If there’s even a slight possibility something might help prevent breast cancer in my body, I’m there. I’ve already had that scare once, so it’s not something I take lightly. And pomegranates are just a good idea all around. If I can get that great, juicy pomegranate flavor without having to deal with the hassle of getting in to an actual pomegranate, even better.
The smell is wonderful. Nice and strong and juicy, I can already taste the delicious smoothies that will come from this. But I’m moving away from the smoothies more and more, as I used to think the only way I would enjoy matcha would be in a smoothie and I have since learned that that is decidedly not true. I’m on my third cup today!
I don’t know how to describe the taste other than juicy, which I feel like I’ve been using too much lately. But it’s true! All of the fruit blends I’ve had from Red Leaf Tea have been juicy! This one especially…and I can just see a Matcha Pomtini in my future. Or mix this with a little orange juice? Yum. This tea is definitely one I want to spend a bit of quality time with.
