Can You (And Should You) Add Milk To Green Tea?

Green tea is one of the healthiest drinks on the planet and is packed with antioxidants and nutrients that have some amazing effects on the body. Most green teas have a grassy bitter and slight nutty background taste. But what if you wanted to improve the flavor can you add milk to green tea?

YES! You can add milk to green tea, just like the popular lattes and Matcha smoothies. However, adding milk to your tea does reduce the benefits of catechin components that are known to stimulate antioxidant activity in the body by scavenging free radicals.

By adding milk to your tea this definitely enhances the flavor but does reduce the health benefits. Although your tea will still be healthy, with milk being a good source of protein and is also rich in magnesium, you won’t get the full benefits, as you would if you were drinking the tea on its own.

What Happens When You Add Milk To Green Tea?

Drinking green tea it’s all about the acerbic taste and health benefits this beverage has to offer. But as you know now by adding milk this does alter the taste and reduce the health benefits.

But that’s not to say adding milk to your tea is a bad thing, there are some good points to this. Not only is milk a good source of protein and rich in magnesium, but it has calcium, zinc and other minerals that can also help boost your health. 

Now so many people do not like the grassy, earthy, bitter taste you get from green tea, and by adding milk this can mask that taste. The great thing about this type of tea is there are so many different recipes to try.

If you want milk in your tea, but still want it has healthy as possible then there are alternatives to this. For example

Try using other types of milk like, Soy milk, Cashew milk, Rice milk, and even Almond milk that will add a nice pleasant taste to your tea, and will be much healthier than using standard cows milk.

How To Add Milk To Green Tea?

There are so many different types of recipes you can create with green tea using milk, as before the most popular are lattes and Matcha smoothies.

But you can also make things like green bubble tea, Frappe, iced tea, or even ice cream the possibilities are endless.

When making milk tea its better to start off with Matcha, this powered form green tea is made from young tea leaves and then grounded into a bright green powder.

Because Matcha is made from fresh tea leaves your tea will have all the same benefits you get when using fresh leaves.

The good thing about adding milk to your tea is it can give it a thicker texture almost like a milkshake, and this is where things get really creative. You can make thick smoothies or bubble tea, again this is where you should use Matcha.

If you just want to add milk to a regular cup of green tea then you can do this with fresh leaves or tea bags, but if you want a latte or something thicker you best option would be Matcha.

You can make milkshakes, milk iced tea anything you fancy. You can even make Matcha deserts again using milk as part of the ingredients, it really is endless what you can do with this tea.

Matcha Latte With Milk

Here’s an example of how easy it is to make a Matcha latte, it’s very straight forward, you can serve this hot or cold, but hot would be the best option especially if it’s your first time.

So the first thing you want to do is get a teacup and add 1 tsp matcha green tea powder, you can add more, but this depends on how strong you want your tea.

Then if you want your tea sweet add 2 tsp of sugar, again this is really down to your preference and how sweet you like your latte. The next is you want to do is gently heat up add 300ml of milk in a saucepan.

Once the milk is hot use a whisk to make your milk froth then just pour into your cup and stir until it’s smooth and light green in color. If you want to make an iced latte just repeat using cold milk.

Recipe Checklist

  • 1 tsp Matcha green tea
  • 2 tsp of sugar
  • 300ml of milk

Matcha Smoothies With Milk

Not only do Matcha Smoothies taste delicious, but it’s a great way to impress your family or friends. You can add ingredients like bananas, pineapple, peanuts, spinach anything you want.

Now it does involve a bit more work than making a Matcha latte, but the end result is worth the wait.

So to get started add one banana to the blender with one cup of almond milk or you can use cashew milk, whichever you prefer, then blend until you have a smooth mixture.

After this, you can then add 1 tbs of Matcha powder, again like the latte, if you want a stronger taste you can add more Matcha.

Then blend for about 30 seconds until all the ingredients have mixed together and you’re left with a nice green delicious smoothie.

You can also add ice cream at the end of blending for extra flavor, but again this is optional. When making your first smoothie, it’s really trial and error to start with until you find the right balance to get that perfect great tasting smoothie.

Recipe Checklist

  • 1 banana
  • 1 cup of almond milk or cashew milk
  • 1 tbs of Matcha powder

Matcha Frappe With Milk

Now, this is a real treat Matcha frappe with its signature cream on top, again to make the frappe it’s going to require a bit effort and work but the rewards are definitely worth it.

So to make Frappe you want to use a thicker type milk and the best option for this would be coconut milk to get that creamier consistency, or you can use almond milk if you want a lighter vision.

You will need some extra ingredients, for this one like vanilla extract and some honey or natural sweetener, low fat whipped cream, a cup of ice and of course Matcha.

To start add 1/2 a cup of milk to the blender with 1/2 a tsp of vanilla extract and the honey or any sweetener you prefer, this is optional, then blend until all the mixture come’s together.

Then add the cup of ice and 1 tbs of Matcha, and blend for 20 to 30 seconds until everything is mixed together, then pour into a glass and add whipped cream on top, you can also sprinkle some chocolate powder on top to finish but again this is optional.

That’s an example of just three recipes using green tea with milk, there are plenty more recipes you can make using Matcha like ice cream, desserts, or even cakes. But the key is when you first make your own tea is to start small like lattes and pick a good quality Matcha tea.

Recipe Checklist

  • 1/2 a cup of milk
  • 1 tbs of Matcha
  • 1/2 a tsp of vanilla extract or honey
  • Chocolate powder (optional)

Green Tea Without Milk

If you want to enjoy the full health benefits you get from drinking green tea then your option would be not to add any milk. This tea is packed with antioxidants and nutrients, that help towards improving blood flow and lower cholesterol.

There was a study in 2013 that found green tea helped prevent a wide range of heart-related issues, like high blood pressure and congestive heart failure.

But as we all know milk is high in cholesterol, take cow’s milk, for example, cows milk is loaded with calcium and vitamins A and D, which is good for the heart and overall health. But too much of the saturated fat and cholesterol in whole milk can actually counteract those health benefits.

That being said, Green tea will have that grassy earthy bitter taste, that not everyone enjoys, and by adding milk this will make your tea more pleasant and flavorful.

Sure! You lose some of the health benefits in your tea, but! You’re also gain some you wouldn’t normally get by adding milk and remember you can also add low-fat milk to your tea, which can taste just as good.

Conclusion

So can you add milk to green tea? Absolutely! But when making tea recipes like the smoothie or lattes as before, you want to make sure you’re using the Matcha powder green tea.

As mentioned Matcha is the same as if you were using fresh tea leaves, except the hard word has already been done, and is in a powder form with all the same health benefits you get from using fresh leaves.

Just remember to experiment when you first start making lattes or smoothies, try new things with different ingredients and with different types of milk, get creative and before you know it your be making great tasting teas every day.

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