Sunday, 11 May 2014

teapigs Matcha Green Tea Challenge - Review + Giveaway


I've been trying hard to become healthy recently with regards to food, drink, and exercise. So when teapigs invited me to take part in the Matcha Challenge, I knew it would be perfect. I was sent the Modern Matcha Kit* which includes a shot glass, spoon, frother, and a tin of teapigs matcha. 

Most people are aware of the great health benefits that come from drinking green tea such as increased metabolism, more alertness, and more energy. So what makes this different? Well, this organic matcha is a powder or, more specifically, ground tea leaves so you reap the full benefits of them. With tea bags, you end up chucking away the tea leaves once you've brewed them for a few minutes.


One serving of teapigs organic matcha is supposedly equal to 15 cups of normal green tea! That's amazing! Think of all the anti-oxidants!

Onto the science-y stuff which I love, matcha contains an amino acid called L-thanine. This helps to reduce stress, increase focus, and release energy slowly. So put down that coffee which will give you a high before knocking you back down again. Instead, reach for matcha!

There are many ways to take your daily shot of matcha and it's best to mix it up a bit so you don't get bored of the taste. It's not the tastiest thing around but you can make it nicer by consuming it in different ways. Here are the 2 ways that I took my matcha shots most often. 


Matcha with milk - This is how I took my very first teapigs matcha shot! I used semi-skimmed milk for this. It was the first time I'd used an electric frother and I kept it on for a little bit too long. Most of it turned into froth, as you can see from the photo, and I was only left with a tiny bit of milk but it was still easy to consume. It wasn't the nicest drink ever but I didn't feel like I needed a drink to wash the taste away afterwards. I got the hang of the frother the second time around!



Matcha with apple juice - This seems to be a popular choice and I had to give it a go as I do love apple juice. I wouldn't go as far as saying this tasted nice, but I tried my best to just focus on the taste of the apple juice rather than the matcha powder. Mind over matter and all that! I was surprised at how green it went! This is the way I've been consuming my daily matcha most often.

The results? In terms of my energy levels, it wasn't majorly noticeable until I was still wide awake late at night. I think I'm just really sensitive to any form of caffeine so I do tend to avoid it unless it's green.... It got better as the weeks went on though. If you're not a massive caffeine prude like me, you won't have that problem. The big difference for me was I felt that my skin really improved and my complexion looked much brighter than usual. Green tea is known to flush out all the bad stuff in your body so I do think it's had a great effect on my skin. I doubt I'll be taking matcha shots daily every single month as I don't think my body can handle the caffeine, but I'll most likely be doing a month of matcha shots once every 3 months as a bit of a detox.

DISCOUNT CODE
teapigs have kindly offered my readers a discount code. Enter Linda at checkout for 10% off items on the website. (This excludes the modern matcha kit and any offers.)

GIVEAWAY
teapigs have also given me another Modern Matcha Kit to give away to one of my readers, so you can reap the health benefits of this product too. This includes a pot of matcha, an electric frother, a shot glass, and a spoon.

This giveaway is open to people in the UK only.
To enter, you must be follow my blog via bloglovin'. All other entries are optional.
Entries are to be made on the Rafflecopter form below.
This giveaway will run for 2 weeks.
A winner will be picked within 7 days of the giveaway finishing, and their name will be displayed on the widget below. 
If false entries are found, another winner will be chosen. 
The winner will be contacted via email and will have 72 hours to respond. 

Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway prize supplied to me from teapigs.