Matcha (100g)

Yesterday ya might as well’ve called me Alexander. It was definitely a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. I mujst have slept on my neck wrong cuz I woke up in severe pain. Moving my neck at all was impossible. This meant no tea. It was literally impossible. Inspite taking 2 Motrin IB every 4 hours, my pain wasn’t touched. The simple act of getting into bed last nite caused the most intense pain I’ve ever experienced- and that’s saying a lot. By 11am, I was finally feeling a little improvement so I decided to make a variation of my dreamsicle koicha. 20ml each vanilla coffee creamer and OJ to 1tsp sifted matcha. The difference of the creamer is amazing. So much thicker! Almost like melted ice cream, if not thicker, vs a thin milk shake or flavored milk. The matcha holds up nicely, but unfortunately the OJ gets lost.

Musk melon matcha smoothie!

Musk melon chunks blended down to make 1 cup. <-blend the heck out of it- the runnier, the better (2 cups fruit?)
1tsp matcha, blended in at the last few seconds.

I actually got this idea after a matcha fataliTEA. I wanted to just sprinkle it over musk melon, but it was so juicy that all the matcha settled in the bottom of the bowl w/ the juice- but the juice was very good.

Psst… Frank… musk melon matcha! Cucumber melon matcha?

Made a BIG strong mug of this. 1 level TB/12oz hot water. Made this for several reasons- 1.) It’s YUMMY! 2.) I’m still too tired to spend a lot of mental energy on making tea. 3.) My scale is broken. 4.) Detoxing from a weekend full of DELICIOUS, but rich Russian food. Wait… I said mug, didn’t I? Yep. No chawan today. My best friend Irina gave me a gorgeous mug w/ 2 different views of Seattle on it and I miss her already!

I’ve only had matcha in a cup not shaken twice (once plain and once as an OJ matcha shot at Jamba Juice- both this weekend) so I was a bit nervous it wouldn’t fully blend- but it did! It stayed cohesive a lot longer than expected and it actually had a really thick foam on top. Woohoo! It chases away my post vacation depression that always plagues me.

Decided to try koicha w/ this again, sifting this time. 1tsp/40ml water. MUCH better- not gritty or chalky at all. Although I’m not crazy about the fact that it requires sifting to be this good. One of the reasons I love matcha is the short time between “I want matcha” and “Mmmmatcha!”- but sifting adds 2 min. to the process! Which seems like a lot longer when you’re sifting.

I’m drinking this Koicha style not just for flavor today. It’s not unusual for me to wake up in a lot of back pain (it’s actually more unusual that I don’t), but instead of an intense ache that spreads over my entire back and down my arms today it came in the form of a single line of intense needle like jabbing pains along the back of my waist so I need lots of caffeine and L-theanine to deal w/ the pain.

It’s funny… as much as I can’t stand matcha lattes, I love matcha peppermint hot chocolate just as much. I decided to give it an extra Christmas twist by using a candy cane instead of dried peppermint. 1 cup of heated milk, 1 candy cane, 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 tsp matcha. I also added 1TB of marshmallow mocha creamer for extra sweetness. Yummm! I did the “dump and stir” method today, but it works better if you heat the milk over the stove, melt the candy cane in, mix in the cocoa powder, then add the matcha. This way it can be over the heat as long as possible before adding the matcha giving you the hottest, most well mixed, beverage possible. If using dried peppermint, steep it in the milk first before adding the cocoa powder and matcha.

Having another giant Seattle mug full of this. 1TB/12oz water. I hereby name this ratio detoxifying matcha!

Now I’m probably gonna get struck by lightening, but I was reading my Bible this morning and came up with this parody of 1st Corinthians 4-7:

“Matcha is patient, matcha is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Matcha does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

Matcha is truly a gift from God- especially on days like today:)

Best. Slimfast. Ever. 8oz Fat Free Smart Balance milk, 1 scoop french vanilla slimfast, 1tsp matcha, 1tsp drinking chocolate mix, and 1tsp Irish Creme instant cappuccino mix. I really wanted to add a thicker, icyier texture to it as well as a berry flavor by adding 1/2 cup frozen unsweetened raspberries, but I didn’t have any.

1tsp in my tomato soup for lunch. Shocked at how light the matcha flavor is… you could probably add it w/o anyone suspecting anything- except for the odd brown color it creates. I’ve now had a total of 2tsp of matcha powder today… probably not a good idea since I need to go to bed early tonite so I can get up early tomorrow.

Decided to make my own orange matcha today. 1/2tsp matcha and 75ml orange juice.

Now I normally don’t like cold matcha, but this is very good! Smooth, orangy, w/ a slight matcha flavor. I just wish the matcha would be a bit stronger.

Note to self: Matcha Screwdrivers. I even think the green olive garnish I like in them would go well w/ the matcha.

Ok, I’m not good at distinguishing what a 1/2 of a scoop of matcha is, but I wanted to make Usucha… so? Problem solved. I made a double batch!=D There’s never such a thing as too much matcha, right? 3 scoops/5oz water. A bit bitter. Sweet. GREEN!=D

In honor of today’s Steepster Select I had to make sure that I had my matcha before leaving for Prayer + Share this morning. I used my favorite ratio: 1 scoop/3oz water. Perfection.

I’m determined to figure out Koicha. So far I’ve tried 3 scoops and 3.75g (not the same thing even though wiki says it is) per 40ml of water. Today I tried 1tsp instead of using my matcha scoop. The result was a thick liquid that didn’t whisk well and was almost too bitter for my taste.

After days of gorgeous weather I’m freezing in the house w/ a sweatshirt on. This is just want I need to warm up. Thicker than last time- 1 large scoop and 3oz of water. Very strong vegetal aroma, less sweet tasting as well… more of that vegetal wonderfulness that is matcha!

Ok, can someone explain why I did what I just did? I don’t like cold matcha. I don’t like milk in my matcha. And I don’t like slim fast. And yet… What did I do? I added 1tsp matcha to my french vanilla slim fast powder and 1 cup Smart Balance milk. (In my chawan of course) Yep. Tastes exactly like it should. Cold and matcha flavored slim fast. But… I do like it better than just adding cold milk (or even hot, I like that least). I still don’t get matcha lattes though.

Decided to try Usucha with this. I’m not sure what 1/2 a chashaku scoop of match is (it calls for 1 1/2), so I went w/ the weight they list (even though it’s much more than 1 1/2 chashaku scoops) and added the ~75ml water (I had closer to 70ml). The result was an extremely thick bowla that foamed slightly with less sweetness and more bitterness and green-ness. Thank God it was smooth in texture and mouth feel and not chalky, but the bitterness was to the point of almost being too much for me. I’m hoping the extra caffeine will kick my headachey/spacey feeling.