Matcha Green Tea Smoothie

Matcha Green Tea Smoothie is a perfect choice for an early morning breakfast or an evening pick-me-up for the calorie conscious. And much like most Smoothies, the preparation time for this drink is no more than two minutes, provided one has access to a food processor or blender. There are countless variants of this refreshing and filling beverage, made with everything—from peaches and vanilla pods to spinach, kale and avocado.

The most popular Matcha Smoothie uses banana and oats. To make this Smoothie, a handful of ice cubes, yoghurt, oats, milk, ground cinnamon, matcha powder and honey is poured into a blender and blended until it reaches a thick, smooth consistency.

The vegan version of Matcha Smoothies substitutes full-fat milk with almond milk, soya milk or coconut milk. The consistency of vegan Matcha Smoothies is comparatively runnier that the ones containing milk and yoghurt.

It is interesting that while matcha green tea erupted into contemporary food culture only less than a decade ago, it has already gathered legions of fans across the world. Its unwavering popularity can be attributed to its innumerable health benefits and high antioxidant content.

This miracle ingredient, however, has been an intrinsic part of Chinese and Japanese cultures for over a thousand years now. Historians trace the origins of matcha tea cultivation to 7th-to-10th-century China under the rule of the Tang dynasty. Tea was an important export item, and therefore, traders had to devise convenient ways to transport tea to other countries. Hence, tea leaves were roasted and ground into a fine powder, then mixed with water and salt to make ‘tea bricks.’ In the next three centuries, during the Song Dynasty era, matcha powder became increasingly popular in households and began getting ingrained into their daily life.

During the same time, a Japanese Buddhist monk named Eisai returned to his homeland from China and introduced the nation to this ‘elixir of immortals’. Served and consumed in Buddhist monasteries, it was believed that drinking matcha tea after afternoon meditations would reinvigorate them for the rest of the day. It was prepared by boiling the powder in water. Incidentally, Japan also began mass producing matcha at around the same time, dramatically boosting its consumption almost overnight.