There are some companies out there that claim to be “matcha sellers.” On their website it says they sell matcha, and they package their products as matcha, but really they’re selling plain green tea, not matcha green tea. And real matcha makers and drinkers can tell the difference between matcha and regular green tea.
Matcha vs. Regular Green Tea
Besides the color and texture, one thing really stands out to let you know if you’re getting real matcha green tea or not—the tea’s antioxidant count.
While both regular green tea and matcha are considered superfoods, you don’t ingest all the nutrients when you drink a cup of regular green tea because this tea is steeped and more of its nutrients are left behind in the tea leaves. But, matcha is a powdered tea where entire tea leaves are grounded into a fine powder so you consume all of the nutrients and health benefits.
One study found that matcha has 137 times more antioxidants than lower grade green teas and at minimum three times more antioxidants than other higher quality teas. Antioxidants provide your body with numerous health benefits, including helping rid your body of toxins and free radicals that increase your chances of getting sick, gaining weight and even getting cancer.
The two categories that showcase matcha’s superiority are: L-Theanine, a type of amino acid, and chlorophyll, a green pigment in plants that helps plants get energy from the sun’s light.
L-Theanine
L-Theanine has several brain benefits, such as keeping you mentally alert, positively affecting arousal and being able to relax the mind without making you feel drowsy. It improves your creativity and memory, while giving you that desired caffeine boost without the reciprocal crash like you get after drinking most other caffeinated beverages. It also helps reduce psychological and physiological stress.
Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll does more than just benefits plants. In humans, chlorophyll has several health benefits. It helps suppress hunger, stabilizes a person’s blood sugar level, promotes internal cleansing, stimulates detoxifying enzymes found in the liver, aids in reducing redness and swelling, among other health benefits.
If you’ve ever compared the prices of Matcha and regular green tea, you’ve probably noticed that Matcha costs more. But like with many things—you get what you pay for. In this case, you get better quality green tea with higher L-Theanine and chlorophyll content levels. Matcha is also pricier because of higher labor costs to produce it.
High Quality vs. Low Quality Matcha
When you’re looking for real matcha, quality is another thing that matters. Besides regular green tea posing as matcha, there are also high quality and low quality matcha types. And obviously, you want high quality matcha.
When comparing high quality vs. low quality matcha, two things help you tell the difference:
- Color: High quality matcha has more chlorophyll so its color is a nice vibrant green, whereas lower qualities are a duller green, sometimes even a yellowish color.
- Taste: If a green tea tastes really bitter, then you’re drinking a low quality tea. High quality matcha is sweeter, and the higher the quality, the sweeter and less bitter the tea tastes.
If you really want to taste the difference—if you want to drink real, high quality Matcha—then try Ujido Matcha today.