I had a really long love affair with matcha years and years ago. I went to this little matcha seminar at a very fancy tea shop in LA, and learned all about it. I learned the matcha they use at Starbucks sucks (unfortunately), but that the matcha at Starbucks in Japan is quite good. I learned to buy good quality for drinking, and ok quality for baking, and how to properly prepare it. Matcha is good stuff. I made everything from cheesecake to cupcakes with matcha. Matcha is magical and I still love it so much. The thing that I really love about matcha is the caffeine. It has A LOT of caffeine in it, and so it really does make a good substitute for coffee. So during these hot spells we keep having in LA (whoever is in charge of the weather, please stop it), it is really nice to have a nice cold refreshing beverage in the fridge. This Matcha Lemonade is kind of the perfect cure to being grumpy and hot, nice and refreshing, but still a good and smooth caffeine kick. Obviously this recipe is super simple, but you can totally get crazy and add something like mint (or booze), which would be delicious. If you have never purchased matcha before, just make sure what you’re buying is actually pure matcha and that it isn’t cut with sugar and other crap. Most nice tea places will have it, and if not I suggest a Google. Happy hot summer!
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Matcha Lemonade
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup hot water
- 2 cups pure cane sugar
- 2 cups fresh lemon juice
- 1 ½ tablespoons matcha
- 3 ½ cups ice water
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pour sugar and hot water into a large mixing bowl and stir together until sugar dissolves. Stir in lemon juice and matcha.
- Pour mixture into the well of a blender and blender until no matcha granules remain and mixture is smooth.
- Transfer mixture into a large pitcher and stir in ice water. Allow mixture to sit for 5 minutes. Stir once again and serve.
NOTES
- *Makes about 2 quarts
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I’ve had a few matcha creations over the years but the stuff just intimidates me. Matcha lemonade, however, I can get behind. And I’m seeing so many possible cocktail creations with this drink. Yup, a one track mind.
I love the sound of adding matcha!
What a great idea! I need to step up my matcha game…stat!! p.s. – sorry bout that LA weather. It’s been rough up here in the Bay Area too. (although nowhere near as hot).
This lemonade looks delicious! I’ve never tried matcha either but I heard so much about it that I think I should give it a try. Just have to see if I can get matcha here in Switzerland (and how much it will cost). Thank you for the recipe!
Never tried matcha before…this one looks like a pretty good reason to start! Simple, healthy and delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Ooh! This looks delish. I just pinned a matcha frappe recipe from Earthsprout and now this one! Can’t wait to start my matcha escapades. Thanks for the inspiration!
I’m a matcha monster too! I’ll throw it into anything and everything. That and bacon;) I wonder if matcha + bacon = <3?
This lemonade is my kind of drink. Where's the party?
I love matcha already, but turn it into lemonade?? Yup, I would drinks this in seconds!
I don’t exactly understand the difference between matcha and green tea? Is it like dehydrated green tea? What makes it cloudy?
The drink looks super tasty.
Matcha is actually a type of green tea and what sets it apart from other teas is that you’re using/consuming the entire ground leaf, instead of steeping the dried leaves…this the cloudy color. Hope this was helpful!
I have never used matcha, but this is going to convince me to make the leap!
I am in the middle of conquering everything matcha so this is perfect for me! Can’t wait to try this!!
This looks amazing, can you recommend a few Matcha powders you love?? Im always on the verge of buying but i’m never sure i’m getting the right one!!
-Jessica
http://www.mossandmink.com
I always use Mizuba Tea Co matcha! They are a Santa Barbara-based company that imports from a 100-year-old tea farm in Japan! You can buy off their website at http://www.mizubatea.com/ :)
-Sally
http://whenyouthinkhappiness.wordpress.com/
There isn’t a specific brand I love, but I recommend hitting up a Japanese market (if you can). The matcha they have is usually directly imported from Japan and they tend to carry a more pure product. Also, although it’s quite a bit more expensive, make sure you get the ‘ceremonial’ grade, which is the highest. A little goes a long way, so you’ll be able to hang into the little jar for quite some time!
We just put this amazing recipe on our site! Give us a try.