5 Healthy Ways to Spice Up Your Green Tea

Green tea is renowned for its health benefits — it helps with weight loss, keeps your heart healthy and is a powerhouse of cancer-fighting antioxidants. (1)

In fact, recent studies have focused on the ability of green tea to help prevent two major health problems faced by Americans today: heart disease and obesity. Research has shown that the antioxidants in green tea help protect your cardiovascular system while also assisting with weight management. (2)

But let’s face it: No matter how healthy green tea is, drinking it the same way, day-in and day-out, can get boring.

So, to help you on your daily quest to boost health and burn calories, here are five delicious and fun recipes to spice up your green tea.

(Note: The following recipes can be made using either green teabags or matcha green tea powder, but if you want to maximize the health benefits of your green tea, I recommend that you use matcha powder. Matcha is the highest quality green tea, as it is the whole tea leaf that is stone ground into a fine powder which dissolves in water to form a delicious, smooth, non-bitter, and, most importantly, antioxidant-rich green tea. There are some incredible matcha health benefits, as one cup of matcha contains 137 times the antioxidants of standard green teabags.

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Green Tea Recipes

1. Green Tea with Orange, Ginger & Honey:

This tea is beautiful, fragrant, immune-boosting and warming. If you have a sore throat we recommend adding more ginger and also using raw honey, which is packed with probiotics. 

Ingredients:

• 1 serving green tea (loose leaf, teabag or ½ teaspoon matcha)
• 5 orange slices
• 3 fresh ginger slices
• ¼ teaspoon honey

Directions

1. Fill your teapot with boiling water. Steep the orange and ginger for 4 minutes.
2. Add the green tea and steep for a further 3 minutes. If using matcha green tea powder instead, simply dissolve the powder into your teapot.
3. Pour the tea through a strainer into your cup.
4. Add honey to your taste. Enjoy!

2. Iced Maple, Lime, Mint & Apple Green Tea

This iced tea is refreshing, tangy and light. If made with matcha green tea, then it is also a natural energy booster. Matcha contains a small amount of caffeine and is a great source of the amino acid L-theanine. When combined, they can help boost your energy and focus for several hours! (3)

Ingredients

• 1 serving green tea (loose leaf, teabag or ½ teaspoon matcha)
• 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
• 5 lime slices
• 5 apple slices
• 5 mint leaves

Directions

1. Steep your green tea in a cup of boiling water for 3 minutes, or if using matcha green tea powder, simply dissolve the powder into your cup.
2. Stir a teaspoon of pure maple syrup into your cup.
3. Pour the tea over a glass topped full of ice.
4. Add the apple, lime and mint leaves. Stir and enjoy!

3. Coconut, Honey Matcha Green Tea Latte

Deliciously creamy and packed full of antioxidants, this is the perfect coffee replacement. The amino acids in matcha promote energy and concentration but won’t affect your sleep like coffee. For this recipe, you need to use matcha green tea powder.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon matcha powder
• ⅓ cup hot coconut milk
• ½ cup milk of choice (dairy, nut, soy)
• 2 teaspoons honey
• optional: sprinkle of cinnamon or cacao powder

Directions

1. Blend all ingredients together. Note: You can blend with a bar mix, blender or the steamer of your coffee machine. If these are not available, you can use a whisk.
2. Serve in a mug.
3. Optional: You can sprinkle with cinnamon or cacao powder for extra flavor.

4. Fragrant Chai Green Tea Latte

Aromatic and rich in spices, this chai green tea latte combines the spices of India with the health benefits of green tea to deliver a warm hug in every mug.

Recipe

• 2 cups water
• 2 servings green tea (loose leaf, teabag or 2 teaspoons matcha)
• 2 servings black tea (loose leaf, teabag)
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon cardamom
• 1 whole clove
• 1 cinnamon stick
• ¼ cup date or coconut sugar or honey to taste 
• 2½ cups milk of your choice

Ingredients

1. Add spices, tea and water to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Boil for 4 minutes. The water will darken as it boils.
3. Add the honey or sugar and then add milk. Bring back up to boil but be careful it does not boil over. TIP: You can coat the rim of the pan in butter when it’s hot to stop it from boiling over.
4. Strain the chai tea into your cup, add a stick of cinnamon to garnish. Enjoy!

5. Green Juice

Vegetable-based green juices are a great way to increase your daily vegetable intake for overall health. So why not add in green tea to increase the health benefits! ) For this recipe, I recommend matcha green tea powder.)

Ingredients

• 4 stalks of celery
• 2 green apples
• 1 cucumber
• 1 inch of peeled fresh ginger
• 1 lemon peeled and cut into quarters
• 1 bunch of kale (curly, medium-sized, chopped)
• green tea (1 teaspoon matcha or 3 teabags)

Recipe:

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1. Wash and prepare all your vegetable and fruit ingredients.
2. Process through your juicer.
3. In a separate cup, dissolve the matcha in ¼ cup of water. Or, if using teabags, brew in ¼ cup of hot water for 3 minutes. Pour the green teabag water over ¼ cup of ice cubes until cold.
4. Add the cold green tea water to your green juice. Stir and enjoy. 

Final Thoughts

Incorporating green tea into your daily life is great for your health because it is packed with health benefits, but always be sure to use high-quality green tea. If you want to choose the green tea that is best for your health, I recommend matcha tea because its health benefits surpass that of normal brewed green tea leaves.

There are many ways to spice up your green tea, even beyond what’s described here. Try experimenting with herbs, fruits and spices so that you can continue to reap the benefits of green tea while enjoying new and exciting drinks each day.

Erin Young is a heath food writer and a tea expert. She owns two tea brands: Evergreen Matcha in the USA and Zen Green Matcha Tea in Australia. She partners with sustainable tea farms in Kyoto, Japan to source her premium matcha green tea powder. Her tea brands have provided over 1 million cups of green tea worldwide.