I like to start my mornings with a little something light like fresh-pressed juice, bone broth, or Spiced Butter Tea. My stomach doesn’t typically wake up until mid-morning, and I favor something light and hydrating when I wake, and, for a while, I’d walk a block to a local coffee shop and pick up a green tea latté in the morning – I loved its sweet and bitter notes.
When we moved in the springtime, from the mountains to the seaside and from the center of town to a few acres in the countryside, those easy walks to the local coffee shop disappeared, and, instead, I began making my own Matcha Lattés.
I’m better off for it, too.
Making them at home saves a mint, and, moreover, I can tone down the heady sweetness of the coffee shop variety while making it from better ingredients.
So what’s wrong with store-bought Matcha Lattés?
The Matcha and Green Tea Lattés you can buy at coffee shops is mostly sugar, with a small amount of powdered green tea mixed in. This supersweet powder is then added to milk, heated and frothed. Or, for those of you who eat dairy-free by necessity or choice, that powder is added to a plant-based “milk” which typically contains additives and emulsifiers.
When I make mine at home, I can focus on reducing the sugar content by sweetening it with a touch of honey, or omitting sweetener entirely. Moreover, when I make it at home, I can give the latté a boost of goodness with the addition of spirulina for minerals and B vitamins, and collagen peptides which provides a nice touch of clean protein.
Organic Matcha Tea Powder
Matcha tea is a finely powdered, and very potent, Japanese green tea. I buy Organic matcha tea here.
Matcha is traditionally shade grown, which increases its theanine and chlorophyll content, making it more potent than other green teas.
Theanine is similar to caffeine, in that it helps to boost cognitive performance and improve focus (read it here), yet, unlike caffeine, theanine also has a calmative effect and may help to reduce response to both physical and psychological stress (read it here).
Researchers who studied tea’s effects on mortality also found that green tea, in particular, was associated with significantly better heart health (read it here) and optimal cholesterol levels (read it here).
Spirulina
Spirulina is a blue-green algae that is used as a superfood, or whole foods dietary supplement. The Aztecs gathered spirulina and used it as a food source, and it is also a traditional food of Chad in central Africa where it is harvested from lakes and then used to season soups and other foods.
Spirulina is rich in protein, B vitamins, and minerals, as well as beta-carotene, chlorophyll and other pigments with strong antioxidant capacity.
Collagen Peptides for Gorgeous Skin
The amino acids glycine and proline form collagen, the structural protein found in the connective tissue of animals. When that connective tissue breaks down during cooking, as in boiling a chicken frame for bone broth, that collagen is extracted and is referred to as gelatin (learn more about the differences between collagen peptides and gelatin here).
It is collagen in our own bodies that keeps skin looking taut and young, and it declines as we age. In addition to declining as we age, collagen is affected by environmental toxins and lifestyle factors as well: smoking, poor nutrition, and excessive alcohol or recreational drug use can further exacerbate the loss of collagen, and speed aging of the skin.
There’s some evidence that even though collagen breaks down into its constituent amino acids when digested, it still may support skin health by reducing wrinkle depth and increasing skin elasticity (read more here and here), but more research is necessary.
Foods rich in antioxidants, like leafy greens, as well as foods rich in vitamin C also play a critical role in supporting skin health and the formation of collagen.
Where to Buy Collagen Peptides from Grass-fed Cattle
I use Vital Proteins collagen peptides which come in large tubs that last quite a while. They only source their collagen and gelatin from grass-fed cattle that are never treated with hormones, and, most importantly, are raised on pasture instead of feedlots.
I use their collagen and gelatin to make Chai Spiced Butter Tea, Glowing Ghost Gummies, and Yogurt Panna Cotta.
You can order their collagen peptides by clicking here.
| Vanilla Bean and Matcha Tea Latté | Print |
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoons collagen peptides (Buy it here.)
- ⅛ teaspoon vanilla bean powder (Buy it here.)
- 1 teaspoon matcha tea powder (Buy it here.)
- ¼ teaspoon spirulina powder
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon honey, optional
- Pour the water into a saucepan, and warm it over medium heat. Whisk the collagen peptides, vanilla bean powder, matcha tea and spirulina into the water. Whisk until the water is hot, and the powders dissolve completely.
- Pour the milk and honey, if using, into the hot water and continue to warm it over medium heat until hot. Pour into a mug, and enjoy right away.
Thank you 🙂
My tummy also does not wake up till mid morning, though my body wakes at 7 to care for the kids.
I have 2 tubs of Vital Protein’s gelatin sitting in my pantry and some fresh raw milk and honey.
Mmmmm…..I will try this tomorrow
Hi Jenny,
Where do you buy your Spirulina?
I usually pick it up at the health food store, but you might also try mountain rose herbs.
So happy to get the tigernut milk recipe. Does the tigernut flour sold at Amazon need to be soaked, too, before using, and if so, how much? Thank you so much for all that you offer.
Hi Judy! No need to soak tiger nut flour!
What flours could u substitute the tigernut flour for?
The links for the collagen peptides are bad
I’m sorry you had trouble accessing the link. It seems to be working on my end, you might also try it directly here: http://www.vitalproteins.com/collagen/collagen-peptides.html
This sounds very interesting. Any suggestions on making it vegetarian? I assume that it would still be beneficial without the collagen.
Sounds delicious, I will try it. Matcha is rich in L-theanine but also higher in caffeine than other green teas. It is still lower than black tea or coffee.
Is there a benefit to using vanilla bean powder over vanilla extract?
Collagen is considered a beauty food in Japan and is highly touted in products aimed at women. You can buy collagen infused gummy candies to snack on, collagen rich pre-packaged broths for hot pots, supplements, etc. Angler fish, beef tendon and chicken skin are considered natural sources. Personally, I’d probably feel more comfortable drinking broth made from beef tendon or chicken skin than adding a packaged powder to my food, but I could definitely see the utility of including collagen supplements!
Do you have any concerns about lead contamination in matcha? From what I understand it’s worth being concerned about, but I can’t find a source that seems to have been reliably tested.
Tea plants, and other plants, uptake minerals from the soil, and when that soil has been treated with heavy metals or is exposed to heavy metals, they will uptake those heavy metals too. I’m not at all concerned about lead in matcha (or in other foods), but for those of you who are concerned there’s a few things to consider: 1) buying organic can make a difference, especially if the farm is long-established as organic and so is less likely to have had heavy metals applied, 2) buying from areas that are not close to mines or ceramics factories can help mitigate risk, too, and 3) buying from sources that test their fields can also help.
My father has Parkinson’s disesase, and through that I’ve learned that one of the most promising theories on the drug links it to exposure to blue-green algae. This can be through ingestion or through swimming in lakes that are high in the algae… one researcher has successfully correlated to rates of Parkinson’s disease to the specific bodies of water that patients grew up around. The research is far enough along that they are developing drug candidates based on the finding of an amino acid that accumulates in the brain based on this exposure. For this reason I would avoid consuming spirulina, at least until further study.
Can you link to those studies, please?
My family and I took a tour at an Australian tea plantation once a few years back (one of the only, if not the only, remaining Australian owned and operated plantations!) and they noted that the antioxidants in green tea break down when they are exposed to animal proteins, so if you want those antioxidants, you probably shouldn’t make matcha lattes. (I like matcha lattes and have no problems with this, but I figured it’s worth noting in case people are thinking that they will get all those antioxidants from drinking this.) Black tea also has antioxidants, and in similar quantities, they are just different and those don’t break down in the presence of animal proteins.
Hi Jennifer, I don’t believe there is any evidence (unless you can link to peer-reviewed studies analyzing the antioxidant capacity of plain tea compared to tea with milk or other animal products), because I find that assertion doubtful at best. Many antioxidants, particularly carotenoids, become more bioavailable when consumed with fat (animal or plant-based, it doesn’t matter). What you heard sounds to me like one of the repeated, but baseless, myths that are so prevalent within the natural foods movement.
I worked for years in a research department in a medical school where it was common knowledge that dairy proteins bound with antioxidants. We were all heavy tea drinkers, so when something was published regarding tea, it would catch our eye. There is another study that shows timing of dairy consumption surrounding high antioxidant foods, and whole fat vs reduced fat dairy, but I can’t find it right now.
Just an example:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/19135520/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/17213230/
Thank you so much for sharing! I had no idea, found the idea doubtful, and appreciate being pointed to the relevant studies.
Thank you, Jenny, for sharing this recipe. I really enjoy matcha lattes, but when I searched online to find organic matcha (over a year ago) that’s when I first read about the conflict with adding milk to green tea. I was rather disappointed and fell out of my matcha latte habit. Fast forward to today, (and I would need to spend more time researching), I’m now seeing claims that casein does bind with the catechins, but then will release the antioxidants slowly over several hours. That would be good news, if true.
All that said, if it’s the casein that’s the issue, my thought goes to ghee. It’s my understanding that it is casein free. But then wonder if that would make the concoction oily. Perhaps I should quit being lazy and just make coconut milk from the coco-cream I have and give that a try. 🙂
I’d rather make this with the tigermilk as I don’t drink cow milk any more and I’ve heard making almond milk is bad for the environment.
As a huge matcha lover, this is such a great idea! I always love experimenting with other ways to make my matcha lattes more nutritious 🙂 thank you!
Hi, I saw that the bovine product was produced in Brazil. I am just wondering if production of it is regulated and if you’ve actually visited the farms where the cows live to see their environment, or the facility where the peptides are produced? It sounds like a fabulous product but, I ‘m always skeptical of meat products manufactured outside of the USA. I don’t buy meat at the market either because I’m aware that huge percentage of it is imported from other countries.
this sounds so good! I just bought some vital collagen, and I have so much matcha at home! I will make it asap 🙂
Hi Jenny – I’m having a hard time sourcing vanilla bean powder. Is there any reason not to use pure vanilla extract instead?
Sure, you can use vanilla extract.
Good point about the sugary matcha powder in stores. Had really good luck with Tenzo Tea’s matcha powder, which comes straight from Japan without any added chemicals or sugars http://tenzotea.co