I gave up coffee two years ago, after realizing that the caffeine was messing with my sleep and my skin.  I would drink an iced coffee in the mornings, and for some reason, my crazy body would stay tired all day and then suddenly be wired twelve-plus hours later.  Thanks, coffee.  So I gave it up.  My skin got better, sleep came easier, I had more money.

PLOT TWIST: I thought that giving up coffee would save me money, but my love of iced almond milk matcha lattes (the most millennial, first-world thing I’ll ever say, probably) is actually a more expensive habit.  In case you think that I’ve misspelled mocha (which is what one of my coworkers thought), matcha is a kind of green tea that is ground into powder and actually mixed into rather than steeped in water in a tea bag.

Trying all the matcha at Cha Cha Matcha in New York

A good matcha latte requires the same crazy mechanisms that your coffee lattes do: frothers, foamers, steamers, all those scary-looking machines that baristas somehow manage not to kill themselves using a million times a day.  And the average matcha latte costs around $5, about twice the price of an iced coffee.

The problem is that until now, the at-home alternatives were not great.  Many of the at-home, DIY matcha lattes are powders filled with sugar and other baddies.  And if they weren’t, you still were just mixing matcha with water and pretending it tasted as good as a foamy, frothy latte made by a professional.  My mom turned me on to this Electric Milk Frother, which could not be easier to use.  And with Trader Joe’s new Matcha Green Tea single-serve packets, what you see is what you get: zero cholesterol, zero fat, and only five calories.  The little tubes are perfect for a quick morning drink, curling up with a leisurely latte and a good book, or to store them in your desk for the midday slump.

With Trader Joe’s matcha, I’m saving money and time.  I’m not saying I’ve given up on a barista-made matcha, because I’m not quite that good yet, but it helps!  Love, Me