#AD
I have a confession to make – sometimes I cheat on tea with coffee. I know, I know, I’m ashamed of myself too, but you might relate to some of the situations that cause this outrageous betrayal – looking for a solid energy boost before heading out for a busy morning, or feeling a real slump in the afternoon that leaves you with yawns that most teas can’t touch.
However, The Tea Makers of London have heard our pleas for more pep in our step, and are here to help get us back on the path of tea, with their new blend Matcha Active – a combination of pure shade grown Japanese green tea and young barley leaves. The elves at The Tea Makers have even published their own list of the top 5 reasons to switch to matcha (including no pesky stained teeth!), but the Matcha Active blend packs in even more reasons to make the switch – not least being that at £18 for 20 sachets (90p per drink), it’s sooo much better value than even the cheapest take-away coffee!
But Mrs Radfad, you may be saying, I know what matcha is, being a seasoned tea-person and/or millennial, but what are young barley leaves, and why are they any different from drinking my normal matcha?
Well, young barley leaves are the leafy part of the barley grain, and are a natural source of Vitamins A, C & K , as well as containing insoluble dietary fibre, which helps keep our digestive system healthy (so kind of the opposite of coffee in my experience!).
If you are in fact a matcha newbie, it can sometimes feel like a daunting world to enter, especially if you see tea-people online (guilty!) using a chasen and hand whisking matcha in a bowl, but drinking and preparing matcha needn’t be intimidating. The Tea Makers have a full matcha taste guide to help you get into the matcha mood, and they also sell an electric matcha whisk if you’d prefer a quicker way of getting a foamy cup of the good stuff.
Matcha Active comes in pre-measured sachets and can be prepared hot (at around 80°C) or chilled. I am really enjoying it as a cold drink before heading out for a morning walk – I pop a sachet and 200ml of filtered water into a leak-proof travel cup with a couple of ice cubes, shake it up like I’m starring in Cocktail, and am presented with a delightfully frothy energy boost that lasts longer than coffee, without any heartburn! The barley leaves are milled as fine as the tea, as you can see from the pictures below, so I haven’t noticed any difference in texture from any other well milled green tea, or any strong notes added by the barley that would distract you from the grassy freshness of the matcha.
Matcha can also be a great alternative to caffeinated soft drinks, with a more controlled caffeine release to help you through whatever you might be doing, including working out – to find out more about this, you can head to The Tea Maker’s article Level Up Your Workout
If you’d like to enjoy 15% off your first purchase from The Tea Makers of London – be it Matcha Active or any of their matcha collection, including their gorgeous ceremonial grade matcha, you can head to their website and scroll to the bottom of the page to sign up for the newsletter (I will not receive any commission for you doing this, it’s simply a bargain!)
(While this blog post is sponsored content, my opinions are my own )
Sources:
https://www.theteamakers.co.uk/collections/matcha/products/matcha-active
https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-799/barley
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/barley-grass
https://www.theteamakers.co.uk/blogs/news/level-up-your-workout-with-a-matcha-natural-energy-drink
https://www.theteamakers.co.uk/collections/matcha
https://www.theteamakers.co.uk/collections/matcha/products/ceremonial-grade-matcha
https://www.theteamakers.co.uk/blogs/news/matcha-vs-coffee
https://www.theteamakers.co.uk/blogs/news/what-does-matcha-taste-like
Mrs Radfad Drinks Tea 