Spiced matcha and cucumber cooler

Matcha really has become the drink of the moment, appealing to health-conscious people all over. Being served as a tea, latte or form of iced drink, matcha really is versatile and has grown greatly from it's origins in Japan, where it was drunk by monks. Eat Clean Tea is trying to get you drinking iced matcha instead of sugary cocktails and fruit juices, and so set the #summerofmatcha challenge of creating a drink using their premium matcha powders. What I love about Eat Clean Tea is that they offer a choice of flavours, currently pure matcha, mint, or ginger. I selected the matcha and ginger flavour to get experimenting with, wanting to create an uplifting drink that will make you feel great, inside and out. Matcha, made from green tea leaves, is energy and metabolism boosting. Ginger is anti-inflammatory and it's spicy flavour lifts the mellow matcha beautifully. Inspired by my favourite green juice, I paired the matcha with cucumber, and added some fresh lime for a zinging light drink that is low in sugar but high in flavour. If you don't have a juicer you can blend the cucumber and strain it through a sieve, so anyone can make this!

Ingredients -serves 2

• 1 tsp ginger matcha powder*
• 1 cucumber
• 1 lime

To dissolve the matcha, mix with a small amount of hot water and mix vigorously. Juice or blend the cucumber, and squeeze out the juice of the lime. Combine all three, add ice and serve. That's it!

*Disclaimer - a sample sized matcha powder sachet was sent to me as part of a blogger recipe competition. All work and opinions are my own.