Matcha Green Tea & Ginger Lemonade

 

Sometimes I feel like I have my work cut out for me. Like now, when I’m trying to convince you that this seaweed colored liquid with a pretty lemon garnish on top isn’t absolutely disgusting. I promise it’s a delicious lemonade! It’s my new favorite drink, and I know you are going to love it too. So just close your eyes, drink the greenish water, and enjoy! This green tea lemonade is actually very refreshing, tart, and bubbly. It’s full of fresh lemons, ginger, healthy matcha green tea, and absolutely no seaweed. This recipe is reminiscent of my green tea rehydration mix, but better because you don’t need to work up a sweat before you drink it!

 

Matcha green tea is a high quality green tea powder made from dried green tea leaves, so it’s different than bagged green tea that you steep–you are actually drinking the entire leaf. Matcha has about three times the antioxidant EGCG level of regular green tea; EGCG is the healthy compound that’s found in high amounts in all types of green tea. The research is still up the air, but studies are looking into the effect of the EGCG and polyphenol content of green tea and its ability to help with weight loss and decreasing appetite (there are already some thinner mice out there because of EGCG, so we can only hope we humans get some benefit too). Please don’t take this to mean you should consume EGCG in pill form–you shouldn’t. Regardless of weight or appetite, I personally just like knowing that I’m drinking something healthy over a Diet Dr. Pepper (which I guiltily also love, but contains zero healthy compounds).

 

You should be able to find matcha green tea at most grocery stores with a health food selection. It’s found with all the other green teas. The Matcha love brand was on sale at my local Sprouts for 1/2 off, so I stocked up! I got the organic kind for $8, and it has about 8 servings in the little container. You can also buy matcha powder online from Amazon, or direct from a store. Once you have your matcha powder, all you need is some ginger, a couple lemons, a little honey, and some fizzy water! I only used 1 tbsp of honey for 24 oz of liquid, but you could definitely add more if you prefer less tartness!

 

[print_this]

{Matcha Green Tea & Ginger Lemonade}

This green tea lemonade is so refreshing that I could drink it every day. The matcha powder has 3x the healthful EGCG compounds of regular green tea, and the ginger soothes the stomach and pairs great with the lemon flavor.

 

Servings: 1–makes 24oz

 

Ingredients

juice of 2 lemons

1 inch piece of ginger

1 tsp matcha powder

1 tbsp honey (more if you prefer it less tart)

3 cups (24oz) carbonated water

handful of ice cubes

 

Directions

Peel ginger and run over a microplane or chop into very small pieces. Juice lemons by hand or with a lemon juicer. Combine grated ginger, lemon juice, honey, water, and ice into a blender and blend for about 30 seconds until fully combined. Pour into a glass and enjoy!

 

 

Nutrition info per serving (made with 1 tbsp honey) 95 cal,  0 g fat, 26 g carb, 0.5 g protein, 0 g fiber

 

[/print_this]