On Defiance: Matcha Shots

Sometimes running can make me feel defiant.

This winter, I have been wrought with injuries because I have been training outside and the combination of cold weather and slippery roads have been causing numb feet, cranky achilles and tight calves. I moved my training indoors so lately I have been drifting along on the treadmill and looking outside at the snow banks. Take that, injuries!

And this past weekend, I found myself taking shots in the afternoon. Like I said, defiant.

Let me explain.

Kiss Me Organics recently contacted me to see if I wanted to give their culinary grade matcha powder a try. I am not stranger to matcha tea (I wrote a post about how I incorporate into my daily routine about a year ago), but for those of you who are brand new to matcha world, here are the basics and why it rocks for runners:

– It’s a powder that you mix into your water or almond milk. As runners, we love our protein powder, l-glutamine and pre-workout energizers, so adding another powder into the mix is easy! It is a powdered form of green tea, which means you are drinking the tea leaf.

– It provides steady energy throughout the day – so unlike sugar, caffeine or other sources of quick energy, it will help you to remain alert and focused without needing to reach for another one.

– The matcha plant is grown in the shade (confirm), which means it contains chlorophyll, a powerful detoxifier that helps keep your body removing waste effectively and keeps your cells restored.

– This matcha claims to have 137x the antioxidants of regular brewed green tea, which helps to prevent diseases and combat inflammation – both things that are important in keeping our training on track and our recovery quick!

Every purchase of Kiss Me Organics matcha powder provides you with a PDF cookbook chocked full of every matcha recipe you could imagine. Because we all know how fabulous I am at making beautiful meals, I opted to make a drink instead, but there are recipes of everything from matcha chicken dishes to dessert; my friend, Angela even made matcha granola!

Enter defiance. I normally rise at a time of the morning when most partiers are answering the last call at the bar so any shot glasses I own are covered in dust. As an intelligent runner, you probably are aware that alcohol probably isn’t the best thing for your running performance to begin with, but if you were to come over, I would make us some of these shots.

MATCHA SHOTS 
– 1 cup of almond milk (I used unsweetened)
– 1 tsp of matcha powder
– 1 tbsp of maple syrup
Combine ingredients in a cocktail blender and pour into shot glasses.

The original recipe calls for a flavoured almond milk, but I didn’t have any on hand so I used maple syrup which is chocked full of minerals.

So at 3:30 pm on a Sunday afternoon, I took a shot out of a Key West shot glass (I purchased it years ago when I bought a shot glass at every tropical island we visited on a family vacation…classy) and I stared defiantely at the sun-soaked snow outside. Take that, winter afternoon!

If you want to give it a try yourself, check out the Kiss Me Organics powder on amazon. (link). You will literally get your order to next day so your can satisfy your craving and drink to your health immediately.

Bottoms up!

Have you tried matcha powder before? What are your thoughts?