Anyone else noticed that your usual morning perusal of Snapchat and Instagram has become a virtual parade of bright green latte bowls? It’s as though latte art has a somewhat neon looking long lost sister. So if your go-to fitspo source hasn’t convinced you, it’s probably time you hopped on the bandwagon and whisked up a cuppa matcha (that’s what that green stuff is). The long and short of it is that it’s a processed version of green tea, and aside from the antioxidant health benefits, the real plus is that it improves upon the liquid kick in the pants that your typical soy latte delivers. Because of something called theanine, you get all of the boost and none of the jitters and fast to follow crash that you get from coffee. So we asked the experts at MatchaBar, at their newly opened location in New York’s Chelsea hood, to show us exactly how to make a matcha latte. Turns out it’s about as simple as remembering our mile long Starbucks order.
INGREDIENTS
4 ounces of hot water 184 (below boiling)
2 grams of MatchaBar premium matcha
1/2 cup of whole milk (or almond milk)
one >> Sift 2 grams of matcha powder over 4 ounces of hot water.
two >> Whisk matcha into water until all of the matcha powder is fully suspended into water (a layer of green froth should form on the top layer of the tea). No whisk? Try this instead.
three >> Steam 1/2 cup of whole milk or almond milk until 140 degrees, close steam valve and remove pitcher, milk temperature will rise approximately 10 degrees to the proper 150-160.
four >> Pour steamed milk on top of "matcha shot" to finish your matcha latte. Enjoy.
The peach and ricotta toast recipe that'll make your matcha morning that much better. Or New York's most Instagrammed acai bowl, if you're into that ish.