If you fancy the idea of a matcha hot chocolate, you probably want to go for a white chocolate one. That’s what I’ve done here so that it retains it’s beautiful vibrant green colour. Matcha provides the perfect foil for all that sweetness.
January is the traditional time to follow through with good intentions and try for a healthier lifestyle. I’m always full of New Year’s resolutions and sometimes I actually manage to pull them off. This year I have set myself a tough one, but as it doesn’t involve food or drink, I was happy to take on the teapigs #matchachallenge as well.
Matcha Green Tea
I’ve had a love affair with matcha ever since CT brought some back from his Japan trip in 2007. I’d never heard of it before then, so it was a real novelty. Green tea was my tea of choice, so once I got used to the idea, it wasn’t such a big step to drinking matcha.
It’s a very finely ground Japanese green tea with a distinctive flavour. Because you are ingesting the whole leaf this way, it provides a concentration of all those healthy nutrients that green tea is renowned for. It’s very high in antioxidants, has plenty of betacarotene and contains vitamins A, B and C. It’s said to boost energy levels for four to six hours after drinking it as well as raising metabolism and relieving stress.
Teapigs matcha is ground beautifully fine (by granite rollers) and tastes as good as the matcha tea that CT brought back from Japan when he went there a few years ago. It’s organic too, so gets additional bonus points. It comes in 30g packs and normally costs £25.
As well as a great drink, matcha lends itself very nicely to baking. Not only does it give a distinctive flavour, but also an interesting green colour. I’ve made a number of cakes and biscuits using matcha, but I’m particularly pleased with my matcha shortbread, matcha and white chocolate cupcakes and chocolate matcha battenberg.
The Matcha Challenge
Much as I like matcha, it’s not something I’ve had every day. So I was interested to see if drinking it regularly made any difference to my flagging post flu energy levels. The teapigs #matchachallenge is to drink ½ tsp of matcha a day for a fortnight. It’s early days yet as I’m only on Day 5, but I have been enjoying finding different ways to drink it.
So far, I’ve made two different types of kefir matcha smoothie. I’ve also drunk it as normal in a mug of hot water and tried it as a matcha shot in a glass provided by teapigs.
Matcha White Hot Chocolate
Today I made a frothy matcha white hot chocolate. I used white chocolate so I could retain the beautiful green colour. It’s almost completely lost if you use milk or dark chocolate.
It was delicious. I used a frother to give it a really light texture. The white chocolate makes it extra creamy, but the matcha cuts through the sweetness with strong refreshing notes.
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you try a matcha white hot chocolate, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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Matcha Hot Chocolate – The Recipe
Matcha Hot Chocolate
Ingredients
- 150 ml milk
- 20 g white chocolate finely chopped (I used 2 heaped tsp of Mortimer's white chocolate powder)
- ¼ tsp matcha green tea powder
Instructions
- Warm the milk in a pan to just below boiling point.
- Spoon the white chocolate into a mug.
- Pour in the milk and give a good stir. A mini whisk is useful for this.
- Alternativley use an electric milk frother to mix and froth the drink at the same time.
- Sprinkle a little matcha powder over the top and enjoy.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Sharing
I am sending the matcha hot chocolate off to Nayna for her event, Let’s Cook/Create Hot Drinks over at Simply Food.
Thanks to teapigs for providing a pack of matcha green tea, a shot glass and aerolatte frother in exchange for blogging about the challenge.
blogmumjd says
I’ve never tried Matcha. Hope I’ve stumbled your post okay. Not fully sure how Stumble works
Choclette Blogger says
Thank you. Hitting the stumble button on the side should work.
Bintu Hardy says
I am a fan of matcha in a fruity drink – I need to test it in chocolate like you have.
Choclette Blogger says
I’ve not really paired matcha and fruit – other than bananas and citrus, so that sounds interesting.
Vohn's Vittles says
I’m not a fan of white chocolate but this does sound delicious with the matcha cutting through its sweetness. I actually think it looks very appealing – all green and frothy!
Choclette Blogger says
I haven’t tried it with dark chocolate as a drink yet, mostly because I want to see the beautiful green colour, but I will do.
belleau kitchen says
I have a little pot of this in my cupboard so I simply must give this a go, it looks and sounds superb. Just catching up on all your gorgeous posts over the festive period… Happy New Year Choclette xxx
Choclette Blogger says
Happy New Year to you too Dom. Do use the matcha, it loses it’s colour and potency after a while.
Sarah Trivuncic says
I like the sound of Matcha battenberg!
Choclette Blogger says
It was a long time ago Sarah, but I remember it being exceptionally good.
Caroline says
I can’t quite remember if have had matcha or not, I think I need to have it again soon to remind myself one way or the other. The colour is great!
Choclette Blogger says
It has a very distinctive taste Caroline, I’m sure you’d remember if you’d actually tried it.
Nazima Pathan says
Lovely idea – I have tried Matcha but not in this way. Will have to give it a go – actually quite a healthy drink but still indulgent. Yum!
Choclette Blogger says
Thanks Nazima – not sure I’d call white chocolate healthy, but it makes a bit of a change. Now the smoothies on the other hand …
Foodie Laura says
It’ll be interesting to see how you get on with the challenge matcha loaf is tasty too.
Choclette Blogger says
Matcha loaf as in bread Laura?
Sylvia F. says
This looks like a Shrek hot chocolate 😀 Which is kind of awesome 🙂 I would love to try it!
Choclette Blogger says
Haha, you are right Sylvia 🙂
Angie Schneider says
I am a tea drinker, but this is definitely not something I drink every day. It surely sounds very tasty!
Choclette Blogger says
I’m drinking a cup right now Angie, but it’s made with only water this time.
Janice Pattie says
Good luck with your challenge, keep us posted as to how you get on.
Choclette Blogger says
Thanks Janice. I must say I’m feeling a lot more energised today.
Jane Sarchet says
I’ve never tried Matcha, and had no clue it was made from green tea of which I’m a big fan. Will definitely be trying it soon.
Janie x
Choclette Blogger says
Oh Janie – you are going to have to come and have tea with me one day 🙂
NoraNoraa says
I’m with Stephanie. It doesn’t look too delicious but then again so do lots of foods that I love. I might try this and see what I think!
Choclette Blogger says
It’s all in the mind Nora, I love the look of the green colour because I know what it is, but would probably hate it if I knew it was artificially coloured.
Jen Price says
I’ve done the matcha challenge and I could definitely tell the difference, never thought to try having matcha in hot chocolate before, great idea. Hope you’re feeling better soon.
Choclette Blogger says
Thank you Jen. So this is not the first year they’ve done the challenge then?
Jen Price says
No I think it’s been running for a couple of years, I had a go last spring and had seen it on other blogs before then.
Choclette Blogger says
Ah, OK. Good to know you felt a difference. I’m on day 7 today.
Stephanie Wright says
I must admit, on first glance this does not look the most appealing, but i will take your word on it and give it a go sometime! I will also be making a note of some of your other recipies – they look delish!x
Choclette Blogger says
Haha, yes Stephanie, I guess drinking green coloured liquids might seem a bit unusual, but well worth a try.
Jon Potter says
Well, this is going on my 2015 Bucket List; I will have to try this at some point, it looks so good!
Choclette Blogger says
Thanks Jon, it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I’m a fan 🙂