Matcha Break
About a year ago, I got into matcha. I knew it had a good caffeine kick and felt like a fun afternoon switch from coffee. A creamy, caffeinated sweet treat! I started grabbing them from Starbucks in Howard Beach on my way to the Island, when I go to visit my mother. That led to buying the powder and experimenting with making my own at home. I use sweetened almond milk. It’s not as creamy as I’d like. I’m working on my little ongoing barista project.
Lately, I’ve been getting matcha from Rockaway Roasters (@rockaway_roasters) —partly for the drink, partly for a reason to leave the house. I have a new work-from-home life, and I’m trying to take breaks from the screen.
The Rockaway Cactus!
Props to Roasters for consistently creamy, good matcha. Owner, Victoria Cori Stroh, took my order one afternoon and suggested a squeeze of honey as the sweetener. It’s my go-to now! Also, I need to say how great it is to see an owner of a business at their shop, and not only that, but also serving the community.
And on that note, of great local business practices, how about that planter out front (92-06 Rockaway Beach Blvd.)! I’ve watched it seasonally morph from a cup of Christmas, hot chocolate with a large candy, into a few other holiday cups. And now to a summer coffee-cup cactus. Very crafty. Very Rockaway.
In all this matcha tasting and dabbling, I realized I knew very little about what I was drinking.
The internet tells me matcha is a finely ground powder made from specially grown green tea leaves. Unlike regular green tea, where you steep the leaves and toss, with matcha, you’re drinking the whole leaf whisked into water or milk.
Slightly sweet, a little grassy and earthy.
This is interesting about the process. I learned the tea plants are shaded for a few weeks before harvest, which boosts chlorophyll (the bright green color) and changes the flavor to less bitter and smoother. After harvesting, the leaves are dried and stone-ground into the soft, neon powder.
One of the reasons people love matcha is the kind of energy it gives. It has caffeine, but also L-theanine, an amino acid that promotes a steadier, calmer focus. Less spike and crash.
On the flavor front, it’s slightly sweet, a little grassy, and earthy. The taste is pretty mild with a touch of bitterness. And I like the smooth creaminess of the drink, which is more gentle for my stomach.
Matcha goes way back. It was first developed in China during the Tang and Song dynasties. It took root in Japan, where it became central to the traditional tea ceremony called Chanoyu. The Zen Buddhism ceremony is set in a tranquil environment and centers on mindfulness, respect, and being fully present. Yes, this is the opposite of my energy-driven intentions of drinking matcha and the drive-through culture of Starbucks. That’s a pretty wild transformation. Maybe I can use this new bit of matcha history as a reminder to slow down, to turn my matcha breaks into an actual break.
For more food discovery, follow me on IG taste-testing the town – @theglorifiedtomato.
