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Whether you’re inspired to start a new meditative ritual like Brad Pitt, want to build an at-home tea bar like Travis Barker or love to sip green tea in the afternoon like Serena Williams, some of the best matcha tea powders can bring potential health benefits to your caffeine routine. And if you’ve yet to try the buzzy green tea, perhaps National Matcha Day (May 2) might be an opportune time to mix it into your routine?
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Used traditionally in Japanese tea ceremonies, the tea plant is shade-grown and the leaves are harvested into a fine, jade-colored powder that gives a balanced taste of bitter, umami and mellow grassy notes. Meghan Markle recently became the first celebrity investor of supplement-powdered latte mix brand Clevr and stars including Justin Bieber, Gwyneth Paltrow, Bella Hadid, Selena Gomez and many others are often spotted sipping on the vibrant green drink streetside. And bicoastal café Cha Cha Matcha (which has attracted Leonardo DiCaprio and Kendall Jenner to its NYC outposts) tapped the late Virgil Abloh to design its merch when it expanded to LA.
From hot to cold drinks, matcha can also be mixed into smoothies, shakes and even your favorite dessert. It has caffeine, but not as much as coffee, so some drinkers prefer it for a more jitter-free experience. You can even customize your delicious blend with extra add-ons like cinnamon, nutmeg, cacao or your favorite frothed milk.
Matcha also offers potential health benefits: Research indicates that the superfood green tea is shown to help improve cardiovascular health, boost antioxidants and could also have cancer-fighting effects. It’s packed with chlorophyll, L-theanine and catechins, natural substances found in tea that can help regulate blood pressure, support weight loss and protect cells against damage from free radicals.
What Do You Need to Make Matcha Lattes?
You’ll need a few things to make matcha lattes. A sifter will help remove clumps in the powder, and a bamboo whisk (like the one in this BambooWorx set) is ideal for evenly mixing matcha powder with hot water in a small bowl. If you don’t have all of these items already, there are plenty of matcha tea kits on Amazon (such as this seven-piece set). You’ll also want a milk frother — like this bestselling one on sale for 54 percent off) to get that light and fluffy texture.
How to Choose the Right Matcha Tea: Ceremonial or Culinary?
It’s important to know the difference between ceremonial and culinary matcha before you start boiling your next cup. Ceremonial is the finest, purest form of matcha. The highest-grade blend is made during the first and second harvest from the tea plant and has a strong, natural nutty and savory flavor with a touch of bitterness. If you’re looking to make matcha lattes, ceremonial is the best type.
Culinary matcha is a top choice for baking. It’s perfect for mixing and can taste somewhat bitter on its own compared to ceremonial grade. It’s also less expensive compared to ceremonial matcha.
Other things to look for when you select a matcha powder include picking organic matcha produced without chemicals or pesticides. Stone-ground, non-GMO and fine texture are also key factors to high-quality matcha. Experienced matcha drinkers prefer vegetal notes and that slight earthy and bitter taste, followed by savory.
Now that you know what gear you’ll need, we’ve rounded up the best matcha powders for your Hollywood-inspired green tea ritual. From collagen-infused options by Jennifer Aniston’s Vital Proteins and YouTube star Emma Chamberlain’s mix to organic, ceremonial grade blends, check our top picks below.
TOP PICK
Ippodo Tea Ummon Matcha
Ippodo’s pleasant light and creamy matcha is part of a long Kyoto tradition that dates back three centuries. The robust, earthy tea is high-quality, with umami and sweet flavor notes that are rich, powerful and complex.
BEST VALUE
Matcha Konomi Akira Organic Matcha
$25 at Amazon
Matcha Konomi’s Amazon bestseller is a fine, stone-ground, ceremonial-grade, certified organic green tea matcha powder. The Japanese product is made during the first spring harvest —grown in the shade for at least three weeks during the first harvest —then stone ground in Uji, Kyoto. Akira Organic Matcha comes in both sweetened and unsweetened, with no additives or fillers.
BEST SINGLE-SERVE MATCHA
Mighty Leaf Organic Matcha Green Tea Singles, 12-Count
$10.82 $11.39 5% off
Mighty Leaf’s organic matcha singe-serve packets are ideal for those who need an energy boost on the go, whether it’s in the morning, before a workout or anytime you want to fight the late afternoon, post-lunch haze.
BEST COLLAGEN MATCHA POWDER
Vital Proteins Matcha Collagen Powder
Vital Proteins, the brand backed by creative officer Jennifer Aniston, is known for offering great taste and big benefits: long-lasting energy, skin, hair and nail support. The brand’s matcha collagen latte powder is no different. You can get a caffeine boost from this matcha powder made from green tea powder, collagen from grass-fed, pasture-raised bovine, and coconut water powder.
BEST WITH CHAGA
Renude Chaga Matcha
Save 25% off when you subscribe at Amazon
$33 and up $35 and up 6% off
Made of chaga mushrooms, cacao and cinnamon, Renude’s Chaga Matcha is a favorite of Gywneth Paltrow and other stars for its superfood concoction that helps support immune function, focus and stress relief. Drink it hot or iced, and add your favorite dairy or nut milk for more flavor.
BEST NON-DAIRY LATTE MIX
Laird Superfood Instant Matcha Latte
Get an instant, frothy drink that gives you fuel with Laird Superfood’s instant matcha latte mix. This powder is mixed with non-dairy coconut milk creamer, organic coconut sugar, freeze-dried coconut water, organic extra virgin coconut oil and naturally occurring MCTs, and is a good source of calcium, iron and vitamin C. It’s vegan, gluten-free, soy-free and made in the U.S. All you have to do is add hot water and mix.
BEST WITH PROBIOTICS
Clevr Matcha SuperLatte
Save 10% when you subscribe at Amazon
$25 $28 11% off
Clevr investor Meghan Markle famously introduced the brand to Oprah Winfrey. Available on Amazon and the company’s website, the organic matcha latte is designed to give you enhanced focus and clear-headed energy. You can drink it hot in a mug or try it iced. It’s blended with SuperCreamer (no dairy or sugar) and has adaptogens, mushrooms and probiotics.
BEST FLAVORED MATCHA
Chamberlain Coffee Organic Matcha
$19.00 $23.00 17% off
YouTube star Emma Chamberlain is known for her fashion and her podcast —and for growing a coffee and tea company with cute packaging. Her namesake brand’s matcha green tea powder is vegan, gluten-free and full of antioxidants, and comes in original, vanilla and mango flavors.
BEST TURMERIC MATCHA
Golde Turmeric Matcha Superfood Latte Blend
One of our favorite superfood-blended green teas for ditching the jitters, Golde’s matcha latte mix contains turmeric, an anti-inflammatory that helps support gut, skin and immune health. Aided by coconut and black pepper for absorption, this organic matcha blend is perfect for making green tea golden milk drinks at home.
BEST SUGAR-FREE LATTE MIX WITH COCONUT
Blume Matcha Coconut Blend
Love the taste of coconut? Blume’s superfood matcha latte blend is USDA organic and contains coconut milk powder and moringa (known for its anti-inflammatory properties and potential for lowering cholesterol) so you can get an extra dose of greens.
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