Edibles Recipe: A Marvelous Marijuana-Infused Matcha Latte

Not unlike chia seeds and ancient grains, matcha is popping up on menus around the country right now. It most frequently appears in baked goods, smoothies, chocolate or as a stand-alone tea, and its lovely pale green color and herbal flavor makes for an intriguing ingredient. Combine matcha with cannabis and you have a showstopper.

Matcha is finely ground green tea powder that is — and has been for centuries — the basis for the Japanese tradition of the tea ceremony. Because the entire tea leaf is ground into a fine powder, the whole plant becomes consumable when added to hot water to make a tea. One can’t help but draw a comparison between this green tea plant and cannabis, recognizing that matcha is, in essence, a full-spectrum drink.

Much like cannabis, matcha is also regarded as having important nutritional properties, including lowering cholesterol and regulating blood sugar levels. Matcha is rich in chlorophyll and is a natural detoxifying agent that helps to cleanse the body by removing toxins. Matcha powder also contains considerably more caffeine than standard green tea. However, the amino acid L-theanine, which matcha produces when it is grown in the shade, counteracts the negative results of ingesting too much caffeine like jitters or caffeine crashes.

When it comes to flavor, matcha is strong and earthy with a hint of sweetness, enhanced when honey or agave is added to it. Matcha works well as an ingredient in all kinds of recipes, adding a layer of complexity to the flavor, a gorgeous bright green color and many health advantages. Given that cannabis has many of the same flexible qualities, it’s a natural pairing with matcha. Learn to love matcha and it will love you back.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon matcha powder
• ½ cup boiling water
• 1 ½ cups whole milk, or any dairy substitute, heated
• 2 – 3 teaspoons honey or agave
• 2 teaspoons (or less) canna-butter or canna-coconut oil, melted

Directions

1. Place the matcha powder in a heatproof measuring cup or bowl. In a tea kettle or pot, heat the water. Let it come to a boil and then let it sit off the heat for two minutes. Pour the water over the matcha powder and stir, preferably with a bamboo matcha whisk.
2. Heat up the milk in a small pot and stir to make sure it doesn’t burn or boil.
3. In order to get the best-tasting, foamiest latte and emulsify your cannabis butter or oil into the latte, a quick spin in the blender is the way to go. Place the matcha and water mixture in the blender and add the rest of the ingredients.
4. Process in the blender for a minute and then pour into two mugs.

Dosage

Make sure you know the potency of your canna-oil or canna-butter so that you give yourself an amount of THC you can tolerate. With edibles, it’s best to go low and slow. If you need to add less than the 2 teaspoons of canna-oil the recipe above calls for, that’s OK.

TELL US, what’s your favorite pick-me-up beverage?

Originally published in the print edition of Cannabis Now. LEARN MORE