PaleoCrazy Organic Premium Culinary #Matcha Tea #Review

     I gotta say, I don't find it super easy to eat healthy.  McDonald's is too convenient, $5 Pizza at the Circle K is too convenient and so are their cheesy dogs and Polar Pops.  Dunkin, convenient.  Hotdogs from the freezer, also convenient.  It's not that I'm lazy, per se, I'm just pretty unmotivated these days.  After getting the kids ready to school, I'm already pooped.  But then keeping Boog entertained all day and then getting the girls and dealing with whatever the issues of the day are... I just want one thing to be easy.  That one thing almost always falls to food and drinks.  If I can grab it at a store, it trumps whatever else is laying around the house.

     So I do like to have healthy options when I do feel like making something.  Veggies and fruit to snack on are great.  I also like rice.  Recently I tried something new as well.  It's called Matcha Tea by PaleoCrazy.  Matcha Tea is a powdered form of green tea that uses the whole leaf.  As opposed to steeping the leaf and discarding it afterward, Matcha tea grinds up the leaf and uses the whole thing in powder form.

     The health benefits are many, including:

• Is packed with antioxidants including the powerful EGCg
• Boosts metabolism and burns calories
• Detoxifies effectively and naturally
• Calms the mind and relaxes the body
• Is rich in fiber, chlorophyll and vitamins
• Enhances mood and aids in concentration
• Provides vitamin C, selenium, chromium, zinc and magnesium
• Prevents disease
• Lowers cholesterol and blood sugar

      Actually, the antioxidants in Matcha tea are about 15 times that of pomegranates or blueberries.  That's crazy!  And a cup of Matcha is about the same caffeine-wise as a cup of coffee, but instead of a caffeine buzz, it's said to leave you feeling calm and alert.

     Now, here's the bad part, you ready?  Matcha tea has much more lead than regular teas, up to 30 times more.  It is absorbed by the plant from the environment.  But because the leaf is used fully instead of mostly discarded, the lead remains.  You also need to be concerned about the quality of the tea.  Quality teas is much more expensive, whereas cheaper teas mean cheaper quality.

     Now, here are my personal thoughts.  Matcha lovers, please don't hate me.  When made as directed (1 tsp per 8 oz hot water, whisked in a zig zag pattern til frothy), I think it tastes like the bad end of seaweed.  Not the good seaweed.  Maybe I could have done it better, I don't know.  But I hated it.

     I dreaded trying to find a recipe that I liked, I didn't want to have to choke it down again.  However, and maybe it's not quite as healthy, but I found that using half as much Matcha and adding honey made ALL the difference.  I'm actually kind of looking forward to adding it to new recipes and seeing where it takes me.

     So my verdict... it's definitely an acquired taste.  I won't drink it without honey and I honestly can't see how anyone could, and I'm pretty darn accepting of all flavors.  There's about 3 foods that I don't like.  Wasabi peas, mango, and lamb.  But this is a fourth when made the way it's supposed to be.  So I wouldn't go into this lightly unless you have money to blow on something that you might not like.  But it does have potential given the right recipe, and the benefits are worth the testing period of finding that right recipe.  I hear it can make pretty great pancakes!  And I promise, when I come up with a tummy recipe that uses Matcha, I'll write about it and let you know.

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Except for the product(s) given to me for the purpose of reviewing, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.