Matcha green tea is a powdered tea, where you ingest the whole tealeaf instead of simply the infusion, this brings along with it many benefits and unique nutrition characteristics such as the beta-carotene equivalent to a bowl of spinach!

Although green tea is a rich source of bioactive compounds (polyphenols and methyxanthines) the extraction efficiency of these compounds strongly depends on the extraction conditions.

The first extract (brewing) of green teas is often discarded due to excessive astringency, but what happens when we reuse the tea bag... well…

It is concluded that the practice of reusing tea samples is not a good way of drinking since most of health enhancing compounds (flavonoids) decompose (Astill, Birch, Dacombe, Humphrey, & Martin, 2001).

Research shows that the stability of bioactive compounds within green teas really does vary according to its preparation and storage.

Findings from investigations suggest that maximum extraction (getting the good bits out) efficiency of bioactive compounds (the good stuff) from green tea is achieved by brewing at 80 °C, for 5′ (powder), 15′ (bagged) and 30′ (loose leaf).

However, lets face it we don’t make a cup of tea to enjoy 30 mins later! So leave it for five and hope for the best I say! Also any longer then that and I always suffer the typical green tea bitterness, where you sip it thinking...

“oh this is why it is good for you, it tastes awful’

Enjoy your green tea often throughout the day, and if you’re decadent, enough to get the Matcha stuff… mix it into smoothies(add kiwis for extra green goodness and flavour!), soups or within your dressing for your salad!