Teapigs Matcha Tea Review - Matcha May

I drink plenty of coffee each day. I'm lucky to work in an office with a fabulous coffee machine, meaning unlimited cappuccino! Some days I'm drinking 5 or 6 cups, and most mornings I need a good strong coffee before I can even begin to feel human. I have been trying to cut down recently, particularly since I started my health and fitness challenge in March.

When I was asked if I would like to take part in Matcha May with Tea Pigs, I was a little unsure. I had heard lots of people raving about green tea, but having tried it in the past and not really enjoyed it, I wasn't sure Matcha would be much different.

My husband, being a tea nut, encouraged me to give it a go, and after reading a bit about the benefits of matcha tea, I was intrigued and decided to try it.

Matcha green tea is a finely ground green tea powder, full of antioxidants. With normal green tea, you  make a brew and then throw away the leaves, but with matcha you drink it all meaning you get all of it's goodness. One shot of this super powered tea is supposed to be the equivalent of 15 cups of normal green tea! Drinking matcha regularly can boost metabolism, which I liked the sound of!

I received the teapigs modern matcha kit, which contains everything you need to get started. In the kit came a matcha shot glass, a mini battery operated frother for mixing the drink, a small spoon and a 30g tin of teapigs premium grade matcha, along with a little badge and an information booklet.

For matcha May, I had to have a matcha shot every day of the month, and I was excited to see if it was as good as it claimed to be!

The first time I tried to make a shot I ended up making a bit of a mess. I put a scoop of the powder in to the glass, and topped it up with cold water. I then used the frother to mix it together, and before I knew it I had sprayed tea everywhere. 

There is a knack to making it without getting yourself covered though, and it was easy once I knew what I was doing. I found the best way to make it was to add a scoop of tea then add a small splash of liquid. Mix together with the frother until combined and then top up with the rest of the liquid.

Matcha tea can be made with hot or cold water, or with fruit juice for something a bit more refreshing. 

For my first attempt I made it with cold water, which resulted in a swamp green coloured drink. I'm not good with shots, and I'll be honest, the colour put me off a little bit. I wasn't very keen on the smell either, and I spent about 10 minutes at the sink with the shot in my hand, giving myself a bit of a 'come on, you can drink it' pep talk. After a lot of encouragement from my husband, (by encouragement I mean he stood behind me shoutings 'get it down you man!') I took a drink. 

I have to be honest here, I didn't like it. It tasted like nothing I have ever tried before, with a very strong tea after taste. I was worried about what I had gotten myself in to, signing up to a month of drinking the stuff! My husband tried it after me and quite enjoyed it, so if you are a tea lover I'm sure you will too.

The next day I decided to try it with fresh orange juice, and my goodness what a difference it made! It gave a subtle green tea flavour to the juice, it reminded me of ice tea almost, and it just tasted great. Throughout the rest of the month I just made the tea up with juice, but I would urge you to try it both ways to see what works for you.

Now, like I mentioned before, I have always needed plenty of coffee to keep me going through the day. With coffee, I find it does a great job of giving me energy but then I crash down a little later. Matcha contains caffeine, but it gives an all day release of energy rather than a quick burst. I usually find at work I'm tired by about 1 or 2 o'clock, but after a shot of matcha I was getting home at 5.30 and still feeling pretty energised. I forgot to take a shot one day and really noticed the difference in my energy levels. Most mornings I get up to do some exercise before waking up the rest of the family, and taking a shot of matcha before it gave me a great boost to get my exercise done.

As far as boosting my metabolism, I do feel it has helped. I haven't had matcha shot since the end of may and my weight loss does seem to be slowing.

Now that the month is over and I've used up all of the powder in my tin, I've definitely noticed my energy levels have dropped, and I've gone back to drinking lots of coffee to compensate. I think I will be buying myself another tin as soon as pay day arrives, because I've been converted. 

The kit costs £35 from the teapigs site, and a tin of the tea starts at £25 (which is only 83p per day). It might sound a bit pricy, but you really are getting a good quality tea. My husband decided to join in with me and bought himself a cheaper pouch but it tasted bitter in comparison, so much so that I couldn't drink it.

If you are thinking of trying matcha tea, head over to the teapigs site to find out more or to buy your own kit. Try it for a month and I'm sure you will be impressed!

I received the Modern Matcha Kit free of charge in order to test it for this review. All words and opinions are my own.