Mad About Matcha: our Origin Story

This month we're having our March Matcha Madness promotion that's 15% off all our products. Since everything's made with organic Japanese matcha as our key ingredient we wanted to write about how everything got started and how matcha inspired everything we do at Sencha Naturals.

Where It All Began

Matcha hasn’t always been on the top of the health food craze list. Over the years, it has gained more prominence as its incredible health benefits have become more well known.

Our love for matcha was inspired by the travels and goals of our founder, David Kerdoon. Throughout his travels through Asia, David immersed himself in the culture. Inspired by the extensive use of matcha, David began to think of different ways this could be integrated into unique products. Firsthand, he saw the benefits that matcha had. Upon returning to America, he noticed people were really only drinking green tea. They were missing out on so many more potential benefits!

Matcha is shade grown green tea where the bright green leaves are steamed, dried and then ground into a fine powder. This results in matcha retaining all its nutrients and, due to its powdered state, being incredibly versatile as well. This led to the inspiration that getting your green tea fix could now be easy and convenient.

Our mission is “Green tea for all”, which for us means taking tea out of the traditional ceremony and instead going for convenience so it’s easy for everyone to enjoy anytime, anywhere.

First Came Mints

When David returned from Asia, ways to incorporate matcha were on the brain. Having a friend who made mints, they collaborated and the matcha mints were born. As the vision for matcha has grown, so has the flavor profiles for our mints! We offer mints that are sugar free, while our other mints have unrefined coconut sugar.

Fresh breath is important. Whether you’re in a meeting, hanging out with friends, or on a first date, you’ll want to have fresh breath. When mints have too much added sugar, it outweighs the benefit of fresh breath. Our matcha green tea mints were formulated to ditch the sugar that doesn’t help- and add in sugar that make it sweet but is still a good treat for you! Unrefined coconut sugar has a low glycemic index which means they won't spike your blood sugar but help to add a sweet finish to our mints.

Then Comes Wellness!

It’s always been popular to give your immune system the boost when you’re feeling a little under the weather. Throughout his travels, David had noticed the healing powers that reside in green tea and matcha, but everyone reached for a packet of Emergen-C or took Airborne to ward off illness. Those were mostly sugar and synthetic vitamins so it was time to make our own vitamin C drink mix with a matcha boost! Our Green Tea +C drink mix was born.

Synthetic vitamins play a big role in the wellness drinks on the market. With our commitment to whole foods and clean drinks, we turned to whole foods to create our wellness formula. Our main ingredient in fighting any cold, anytime, is matcha powder. From there we added in ginger, acerola cherry, and immune boosting herbs to help give your immune system the support it needs. We didn’t include any sugar or any artificial additives- this one is one lean, mean, cold fighting machine without it!

Next Came Lattes…

Lattes are a delicious way to start your mornings. Unfortunately, too many lattes provide that morning jolt with lots of added sugar and other artificial and processed ingredients. We couldn’t find lattes that ditched all of the unnecessary diglycerides and hydrogenated extras. So it was time to develop our own version with all the good stuff and none of the bad.

We wanted to create a latte that could be enjoyed at any time of day and provide all the health benefits that matcha has to offer! Our goal led to the creation of our Matcha Lattes. Enjoyed hot, our vegan matcha lattes provide a wonderful morning wake up call. Even on a warm day, you can pour your matcha latte over ice for the perfect afternoon pick me up.

Expanding the matcha flavor profile makes the choices more fun. You can always opt for original, which was our first kitchen creation, or venture with our other flavors - Tropical Mango and Bombay Chai.

Lattes are traditionally made with milk. With more people cutting dairy out of their day to day lives, we wanted to come up with a recipe that still had the same smooth and creamy finish of a latte but without the dairy. That’s why our matcha lattes are completely vegan. This way, everyone can enjoy!

What Will You Create?

Different ways to create with matcha has always been the cornerstone of our company and the fun that we have in the kitchen. We wanted to give you the chance to bring matcha into your kitchen and create new ways to incorporate matcha into your culinary adventures!

Our culinary grade matcha powder makes the perfect addition to any kitchen creation you can think of. You can add matcha powder to waffle batter to add a little boost of green tea antioxidants to Saturday morning waffles. It’ll also make a great addition to your next baking creation. You get all the benefits matcha has to offer without worrying about any bitter taste - our matcha blends perfectly with every flavor.

Not sure where to start? Try this super simple cookie recipe below! Then visit our page with other matcha recipe ideas. Let us know what you create, by tagging us on Facebook or Instagram @senchanaturals.

Green Tea Cookies