Strawberry Matcha Tea

I have tried to branch into the world of matcha tea. It's a very popular green tea that, when made traditionally, has all these fun little cups, whisks, and the like for making it properly. However, just straight, I think it tastes and smells like grass, so I figured I must be doing something wrong, or else it is an acquired taste.

So, Krystal and I went to the Monarch Tea House and I asked the lady to make me a matcha the proper way, just so I could see if I would like it if someone who knew what they were doing prepared it. And I did! Now, granted, it was half as much matcha as they would usually use (to ease me into the process) with lots of fillers, but now I can make some for myself at home and enjoy the experience! So here is what I do...

Marsha's Strawberry Matcha Tea

Ingredients:

• 1 scoop/tsp matcha tea powder, or more to taste (The Monarch does 2 scoops normally)
• 1/4 cup strawberry puree
• milk of choice (I used vanilla almond milk)
• ice
• hot water

Directions:

1. In a large glass (20-24 oz), pour strawberry puree into the bottom of the cup, then add your desired amount of ice (I do about half of the cup full of large cubes). 
2. Add enough milk to mostly fill your cup, leaving an inch or so of space near the top to add your matcha (later) and any other desired toppings. 
3. In another smaller cup, whisk together matcha powder with a small amount of water until frothy and/or dissolved (maybe 1/4 cup of water or so). 
4. Gently pour this over the top of the milk in your larger cup. Top with any additional whipped cream or syrups to taste.

Your strawberry puree should make a pretty red bottom to your cup. When you pour the matcha over the top of the ice and milk, you can watch it slowly swirl down into the milk. So fun!

When you fully stir your matcha, milk and strawberry puree together, you can lose your green color as the red and green mix to make more of a brown, depending on how much matcha and how much strawberry you use. 

This was my matcha from the Monarch Tea House