Matcha has been picking up recently in our store, and alot of the demand is for recipes. A local baker, Andrea Maue, won an episode of TV's Cupcake Wars and did a spectacular green tea cupcake. The photographer who does our beautiful photos of loose leaf tea and the Loose Leaf Line of gift/stationery items available at our store and our website, Regina Fell of Murrieta, recently took home matcha and made some doggone yummy matcha-infused cookies...which she was kind enough to let us taste. Matcha has been bought here for face masks people have read about in beauty magazines, for whisking and consuming, and we also use it in the store for making a matcha icy blended with real strawberries and another with creme de menthe...as well as lattes.

Matcha by definition is green tea leaves pulverized to a very, very fine consistency (that sticks to your hands and everything else). Traditionally it is served by whisking in a small bowl. The taste can be unpleasant to some, as the pulverizing brings out everything in the leaf, including tannins, which make it too bitter for some. It also brings about a higher level of caffeine, some say around 80 mg. per 8 oz. serving, when using 1 tsp. matcha and 8 oz. water.