Matcha, much?

Make it your go-to green tea

This St. Patrick’s Day, get your green on with matcha — an intense, vibrant green-tea powder enjoyed in everything from lattes to cupcakes to avocado toast.

“It’s the Japanese ceremonial tea by tradition,” said Kari Dandrea of Pureblend in West Chester. “But the oldest matcha fields are from China.”

Try an iced vanilla matcha latte, available at her tea bar in Lancaster.

“The caffeine is a nice slow release of energy,” she explained. “I like the way it makes me feel. I like the fact that it’s superhigh in antioxidants. I feel like I’m putting something good in my body as opposed to coffee.”

Kimberton Whole Foods sells Pureblend’s organic matcha and serves matcha lattes too.

At Green Engine Coffee Co. in Haverford, “we probably get more oat milk matcha lattes than dairy milk matcha lattes,” said owner Zach Morris. “Matcha is a really great pairing with oat milk. And oat milk is such a trendy topic right now.” But that’s not all. “We just finished making a New to matcha? “First, make sure that you’re purchasing good matcha,” said tea consultant Alexis Siemons of Teaspoons & Petals. “I think step number two is really taking the time to understand how to make it properly.” “If you’re going after that latte or smoothie, the blender is the way to go,” she explained. For the traditional method: “You’ll have a bowl. You’ll have a whisk, and you’ll have a sifter.” “It’s definitely an art,” added Siemons, who calls sifting and whisking part of the mindfulness ritual. Also mind the water temperature, preferably between 160 and 175 degrees. “If you use boiling water, it could potentially burn the matcha,” she said. “The analogy I use is most people like toast, but no one likes burnt toast.” Her recommendation: 1 teaspoon of matcha for 3 or 4 ounces of water, but don’t add it all at once. “Start with 1 tablespoon of water to create a paste.” And keep in mind, “it’s not something that you sit there and sip,” Siemons noted. “Matcha will begin to settle back into its powdered form, so you want to drink it rather fast.” She loves cooking with matcha too. An unsweetened culinary-grade costs less and “is purposely designed for food preparation.” “Matcha can be rather expensive, which is why you’re only using a little bit at a time.” —By Emily Ryan

PHOTO COURTESY OF KIMBERTON WHOLE FOODS Try a matcha latte at Kimberton Whole Foods.

PHOTO COURTESY OF TEASPOONS & PETALS This matcha avocado toast is “something that could break Instagram,” joked tea consultant Alexis Siemons. “It’s two trends at once.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF COUNTERPART KOMBUCHA Natalie Lynn brews this matcha pineapple kombucha.