It’s here!!! We’ve finally introduced our very own matcha! This vibrant, easy to make green tea is chock full of amazing benefits and thought to have a positive effect on everything from moods and metabolism, to disease prevention and oral hygiene. We’ve long been enthusiasts of this powdered green superfood, starting with our green tea mints, and now, we’re excited to be venturing into the “purer” stuff.
Matcha is a Japanese green tea in which shade-grown leaves are stone ground into a fine powder, making it possible to consume the whole leaf as an instant drink mix of sorts. And since you’re not throwing out any leaves post-steeping, this vegetal, vibrant tea packs in way more antioxidants than its traditionally infused counterparts. Hands down, matcha beats loose leaf every time.
Like leather goods, wine, chocolate, etc. there’s a definitive quality scale in place when it comes to matcha. At the lowest end, the tea can be bitter, brownish, and overall not fantastic. The other end of the spectrum boasts a smooth sweet tea with a striking bright green color. To keep things simple we’re offering a couple of options that strike a balance between taste and price.
This is the green stuff your favorite matcha goodies are made of; cookies, cakes, ice creams, you name it. Not to mention, a whole subsection of Pinterest thrives on this stuff. Typically bitter, with a tinge of brownness, culinary matcha works best in combination with confectionary ingredients.
Generally speaking, culinary grade isn’t the best quality. And while we don’t exactly recommend culinary matcha as a stand alone beverage (unless you like things on the bitter side) it’s still a great way to bake some green tea benefits into your day to day routine. It’s not all about sweets either, try boosting the antioxidant factor in your favorite savories too; soups, noodles, rice, the list goes on…
Definitely more of a “drinking matcha” this is a really GREEN green tea. Great on its own, premium matcha is a bit more expensive than its culinary counterpart, has a sweet, grassy flavor and doesn’t need to be dressed up with flour, sugar and milk products. Mix with water or your favorite type of milk for a quick and easy green tea fix.
There’s an easy way and a traditional (but still relatively easy) way:
The Easy Way - Mix ½ to 1 tsp. matcha with 1 tbsp. water in a cup to make a smooth paste. Stir in 8 oz steaming hot water. Use a fork or whatever utensil you have on hand.
The Traditional Way - Sift 1 to 2 bamboo spoons in a matcha bowl. Pour in 4 oz steaming hot water. Rapidly beat with bamboo whisk in a zigzag pattern until smooth and frothy. That’s it.
For ceremonial green tea with more casual pricing, check out http://www.senchanaturals.com/collections/matcha and start adding some healthy green tea benefits to all your favorite recipes.
Wow, we can’t believe it’s already June. With days getting shorter, and undeniably hotter, it’s time for beaches, BBQs, and lattes…? Alright, lattes aren’t exactly synonymous with summer, but hear us out.
As temperatures rise, it's about time to trade in those piping hot chais, super rich mochas, and of course, anything pumpkin related. Our vegan green tea lattes are extra tasty cold, and just as easy to make as their hot counterparts. Creamy coconut and bright, grassy green tea make the perfect refresher - with some bonus antioxidant benefits too!
In case you’re looking for some refreshing new drink ideas, we’ve got a few ways to cool off AND get your matcha fix at the same time.
It’s hot, we get it, sometimes you just want something simple, instant, and straight to the point. Not to toot our own horn, but we know a certain mango latte that does just the trick- sweet, fresh, and super easy- just add 8-10 oz of water to two scoops of our latte mix, and shake or stir it up. That’s it.. a cool treat in less time than it takes to whip up a batch of instant noodles.
Stay inside and avoid heat stroke.. if you’re looking something a bit more decadent than those ubiquitous summertime fruit flavors and ice pops, toss that latte mix in the blender, replace some of the water with some ice cubes and blend it up. Sencha’s chai latte makes a nice alternative to some of those crazy calorie bombs from big box coffee shops. Sweetened with coconut sugar, and chock full of green tea benefits, this sure beats the mystery syrups and dirty additives found in other hot weather treats.
Let’s be honest, sometimes we want something both tastier AND more substantial than our healthy green juices and smoothies.
Try our original blended with tropical faves like banana and pineapple, or perhaps some fresh berries and a hint of mint? A perfect, guilt-free alternative to that pint of ice cream you’ve been eyeing; and you can always throw some greens in there for good measure.
Of course there’s more where that came from- try making your own latte popsicles, cocktails, and other green tea creations. With 3 lattes for $30 for the entire month of June, there's no reason not to experiment.
Shop now at senchanaturals.com
With its sweet, juicy flavor profile reminiscent of beaches, palm trees, and lazy summer afternoons, it’s easy to forget that mangoes are actually GOOD for you.
But- there’s more to mango than being the “poster flavor” of all things tasty and tropical. Here’s just a few of the amazing benefits it has to offer:
1. A Fresh Face Forward
Mangoes not only refresh the palette, but the face as well. Chock full of antioxidants, this tropical fruit unclogs pores, wiping out blemishes and blackheads. In addition to keeping the skin clear, mango’s high vitamin A content helps maintain a youthful glow, fighting against early signs of aging.
2. Immunity
Even with flu season behind us, it’s always smart to keep up a solid defense where colds, coughs and sore throats are concerned. A little mango goes a long way in protecting against any stray ailments in the air; vitamins A and C, as well as a multitude of carotenoids (at least 25 types!) help boost the immune system, keeping you well all year long.
3. Stay Cool
There may be a biological reason mango hits just the right spot on those real sweltering days. A simple ayurvedic remedy made up of green mango juice, water and a light sweetener, is thought to help cool the body, and release toxins from the kidneys, slowing damage caused by heat stroke.
4. Alkalizes the Body
Malic, citric, and tartaric acids work together to help alkalize the body. This helps soothe the digestive system, helping alleviate conditions like IBS, indigestion, bloating, as well as inflammation throughout the body.
5. Eye Health
Carrots aren’t the only food that keep those eyeballs in top form. High vitamin A content makes mango a heavy hitter when it comes to caring for your peepers- preventing dry eyes and night blindness.
6. Help Prevent Cancer
As far as health benefits go, you can’t really beat cancer prevention. Mangoes help prevent leukemia, as well as breast, prostate and colon cancers, with powerful antioxidants like quercetin, isoquercitrin, gallic acid and astragalin.
In the midst of mango season (April-June, by the way..), there’s really no reason not jump on the bandwagon.
Great on its own, in a smoothie, or a more portable option, our mango green tea mints- 15% off for the rest of May at
https://www.senchanaturals.com/collections/tropical-mango-green-tea-mints
Citations:
Texas A&M AgriLife Communications. (2010, January 12). Mango effective in preventing, stopping certain colon, breast cancer cells, food scientists find.ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 19, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100111154926.html
Green tea ice cream, green tea lattes, green tea cakes, cookies, and kit kats. All use the same secret ingredient- matcha, the tea used in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies. And while green tea baked goods are always appreciated- matcha is pretty darn good on its own too.
Despite its increasing presence in various tasty treats, smoothies, and supplements- our friends, families, and many of those we talk tea with, still don’t seem to have a clear picture of what matcha is.
So.. then, what exactly is it? Well, matcha is the only tea in which the entire leaf is consumed; meaning this vegetal and vibrant powdered tea packs in way more nutrients than its traditionally infused counterparts.
Matcha begins with leaves lovingly grown in the shade, beneath screens and straw shades, which reduces the rate of photosynthesis. Due to lack of access to the sun, the tea leaves are forced to work extra hard, catching whatever glimmer of the sun they can- resulting in a bright green, nutrient rich tea, known as tencha.
The tencha leaves are picked late in the harvest, after spending about 2-4 weeks in the shade, and are subsequently air-dried, de-stemmed, and ground into a fine powder using a stone mill. Tencha is now matcha; tea transformed.
Just a few of the countless benefits you'll enjoy by embracing the “shadier side” of green tea:
Calming, Crash-Free Energy Boost- Like coffee and brewed teas, matcha does contain some caffeine. It also contains L-theanine, an amino acid responsible for a savory, umami flavor, that has an anti-stress effect. The caffeine and L-theanine combine to create a calm, alertness. Japanese monks have used matcha for over a thousand years; helping them stay focused while meditating for hours on end.
Some Nutritional Basics- Potassium, Iron, Vitamins A, C, E, & K- who knew you could get so many vitamins and minerals just from sipping on tea?!
Antioxidants- Matcha is jam packed full of antioxidants that do everything from naturally freshening breath, potentially aiding in fighting some cancers and HIV, protecting skin against damage from the sun and potentially, from age induced wrinkles and sagging.
Detox- Another way to get our essential fill of greens; chlorophyll is the stored solar energy that gives matcha its green color. Its high chlorophyll content has a cleansing effect on the body, helping eliminate chemicals and heavy metals, restore pH balance, and support the immune system.
Metabolism Booster- Matcha can raise your metabolic rate, while increasing fat oxidation- especially if consumed right before hitting the gym. It also has thermogenic properties- which means it helps the body burn calories while digesting food.
It's Super Convenient- Not exactly a health benefit, but a killer benefit nonetheless, matcha’s powdery, “just add water” nature makes it essentially the perfect instant drink mix; effortless, but with no sugar or mystery ingredients that tend to be the price of convenience.
Around these parts, we use matcha anywhere we can; green tea mints and immune support, and our newest addition, green tea lattes! Next time, skip the juice cleanse- and whip yourself up a frothy batch of ceremonial grade deliciousness.
Sneezing, coughing, and exhausted? Fructose, glycine, and cysteine hydrochloride to the rescue! Wait...What..?! Your typical, run of the mill immune support drink is loaded with sugar, synthetic vitamins, and ingredients that can be a little tricky to pronounce; not exactly a recipe for daily wellness success. We think we can do better. Green Tea +C is a whole-food based immune support drink made from organic green tea, acerola cherry, and a blend of ginger, orange peel, and turmeric that work together to help you stay well. Naturally...
Here's a thing or two worth knowing about natural immune support.
Antioxidants, we’ve all been told, are seriously good for you. Their inherent super powers come from the ability to fight free radicals, which set off these chain reactions that actually damage the body’s cells. With its anti-fungal, antibacterial, and antiviral properties, green tea protects against illnesses that enter through the nose and mouth, with a type of antioxidants, known as polyphenols. Polyphenols help fend off viruses like the common cold, strep throat, and influenza- just skip the milk if you feel your defenses are low, dairy proteins bind to polyphenols, making them inactive.
Another immune boosting fact- green tea has also been shown to have a positive impact on brain and mood functions; a happy, healthy mind means a happy, healthy body.
Certain fizzy drinks might talk a big vitamin C game, boasting something like 2600% of your daily value, but in reality, your body can’t absorb anywhere near that amount. It’s simply too much of a so-called “good” thing. Ascorbic acid is listed as vitamin C in a sizable chunk of your favorite supermarket staples, its purpose being, to replace vitamin C lost in the pasteurization process(the heat destroys naturally occurring vitamin C). Ascorbic acid is essentially only the outer layer of a vitamin, it is extracted and isolated from a sugar molecule found in corn, and is therefore missing the co-factors and micronutrients that work together for maximum absorption.Green Tea +C gets its “C” from the Acerola cherry, a tiny fruit hailing from the Amazon that contains more vitamin C by weight than an orange.
It might taste sweet, but sugar is truly up to no good when it comes to your immune health. Excessive sugar curbs the immune system’s ability to fend off bacteria and viruses that invade the body. Normally, white blood cells engulf, then absorb incoming foreign organisms, basically cleaning out anything that doesn't belong in the body. Sugar vastly slows this process, leaving the immune system wide open for attack from incoming germs.
It’s time to adopt a “less is more” mentality when it comes to vitamins. If you find your nose getting progressively harder to use, throat scratchy, or maybe just the onset of flu season panic; take a timeout, drink some tea, and try eating real, wholesome foods.
Shop Green Tea +C, and get 15% in the month of November:http://www.senchanaturals.com/gtpc
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