I owe y'all a race report from Sunburst half (not much to share there, but I'll make a post anyhow). Also I did a 5k last Sunday. All in all I'm feeling simultaneously a little burned out on running (3 races in 1 month? What the what?) and also eager to get back on some kind of structured running plan, since when I haven't been racing I've mostly been a complete lazy-ass. So, we'll see where this next week/month leads when it comes to running. But seriously, I'm back alive in the blogosphere and there will be race reports and also posts about the usual training things. I'm so happy to be settling back into Columbus for awhile.
In the meantime let me share with you my latest addiction: a fabulous creation I discovered called a tropical matcha latte. It all started at Zen Tea House in Louisville, where I ended up with some friends for dessert one night when work was paying for our food. I had vegan carrot cake and a tropical matcha latte, and it was fabulous....so fabulous that I spent the next 2 days thinking of that latte and ended up stopping by for a second one on my way out of town. And guess what... I had matcha powder in my fridge, so I knew I was going to have to find a way to make these.
For starters, Zen Tea House was awesome. I can't recommend it enough. Cozy, homelike atmosphere...super-cool people... delicious and creative food... millions of teas. If I lived in Louisville I'd be going there constantly. I think the matcha latte I had there had: mango juice, aloe juice, almond milk, matcha powder, some form of sweetener, and I'm not sure what else. So when I got home, here is what I tried:
- Heat water for tea; whisk 1 tsp of matcha powder in a very small amount of hot water (3-4oz?) and allow to sit a couple minutes.
- In a large tumbler, pour: equal amounts of pineapple juice and mango juice (I couldn't find proper mango juice so I used something called "tropical morning blend" that had a lot of mango juice in it)
- Add about 1/4c almond milk
- Pour in the matcha tea you mixed
- Add a drizzle of agave
- Blend and pour over ice.
I've had one of these literally every day since I've been home. I'm going to run out of matcha powder and I'm too poor to buy more! But seriously, it's so delicious. And here is why matcha is awesome: when you drink matcha you're drinking the whole leaves of the tea, not just steeping leaves. One glass of matcha tea is the equivalent of 10 glasses of regular green tea in terms of antioxidant content.
Have you had matcha tea before? Do you have matcha latte ideas that AREN'T "tropical" so I can add a little variety here?
I've got some Rishi sweet matcha that I got for free from work. I mostly save it for baking ... if I have an unopened one, I can care package it to you! ;)
ReplyDeleteOmg <3 that would be so so awesome. I love these smoothies so much and I'm rapidly running out of matcha!
ReplyDeleteAs long as you don't mind it having a tiny bit of sugar in it (since it's sweet macha) we're good to go. :)
ReplyDeleteAnything else you want? I get a whomping WFM discount so I can send you goodies without it being a big deal on my end.
I've got some black salt, for instance. That stuff that tastes eggy and is good in tofu scramble, tofu omelets, etc. :)