Matcha Mate Almond Latte

By Angela, contributing writer

As someone with a sensitive digestive system, coffee has always been a nutritional gray area for me. It also exacerbates my teeth grinding and stresses my adrenals, so I’m trying to stop. In an attempt to wean myself off black tea and coffee, I’ve been playing with some fun alternatives. It’s hard to give up something you love without replacing it with something else. I look forward to my morning ritual of sipping something warm and creamy to ease myself awake. So I created this energizing and yummy drink Matcha Mate Almond Latte to distract myself from my coffee cravings.

Let me break down the ingredients…

Mate, like coffee, is well known for it’s energy enhancing properties, but for different reasons.

Yerba Mate is very high in anti oxidants. It also boasts 24 vitamins and minerals and 15 amino acids, and theobromine, an active ingredient in chocolate.

Mate is as popular in South America (particularly Argentina) as coffee is in North America. It has a milder taste than green tea and needs to be brewed for 10 minutes for maximum effectiveness.

Match green tea powder is a super food of its own right. It’s touted to boost detoxification, immunity, energy levels, weight loss, memory, concentration and calm. You only need a tiny bit to get the benefits and it gives this almond milk latte such an amazing flavor.

You can buy unsweetened, organic almond milk in most stores or learn how to make your own almond milk here. It’s pretty easy.

You can drink this latte without sweetener, but adding a touch of honey and maple syrup balances the mild bitterness of the matcha.

You can even add a banana for more sweetness and a thicker texture.

I sprinkled a bit of cardamom in my latte, but you can flavor yours with pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, vanilla or almond extract. Or leave out the spices all together. It doesn’t need it.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of unsweetened almond milk
• 2 cups of brewed mate tea (buy it here)
• 1 teaspoon of matcha green tea powder (buy it here)
• 1 teaspoon of maple syrup or honey (buy it here)
• Optional: A sprinkle of cardamom (buy it here)

How to

1. Steep 2 tea bags of mate tea in 2 cups of boiled water for 10 minutes.
2. Mix with 2 cups of almond milk, sweetener and matcha powder in a blender for a minute.
3. If you would like the latte to be hotter, heat the almond milk on the stove until it just starts to bubble.
4. Enjoy your satisfying and health promoting coffee and black tea substitute.

About the Author:

Angela Privin stumbled on the Paleo diet while trying to cure her symptoms from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). After a year on a strict Paleo diet she was completely healed and her food allergies were reversed. She’ll always be grateful to her health challenges for making her learn to cook years ago. These days she’s Paleo because she loves the creative challenge of cooking delicious grain-free, real food. She spends much of her spare time experimenting in her Paleo Kitchen Lab and eating the experiments. You can check out her recipes here.