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Harpers Bazaar Arabia
05-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Harpers Bazaar Arabia
Best Matcha in Dubai: 16 Cafes That Need To Be on Your Radar
Rapidly gaining in popularity, matcha cafés are embracing the deliciously smooth coffee alternative loved by many around the world… Matcha has been a cult drink flavour in the UAE for a long time, but now the flavour is flowing into chic culinary dishes too, popping up in Matcha cafés and elegant eateries across Dubai. Matcha addicts can now indulge in baked goods such as pancakes, ice cream or brownies – the list is endless. What Are The Benefits? Obtaining its vibrant green colour from the Japanese green tea leaves found in the Camellia sinensis plant, matcha contains profound nutrients like hardworking vitamins and fibres, offering multiple health benefits beyond its on-trend appeal. Matcha powder contains powerful antioxidants such as catechins, which can help prevent cell damage and decrease the risk of some diseases. The beverage also includes a gentle caffeine boost, making it the perfect option to gradually release energy – without those coffee jitters. Here, Bazaar Arabia rounds up some of the most adored matcha lattes in the UAE. Best Matcha in Dubai: 16 Cafes That Need To Be on Your Radar Blu Matcha Café Located in Dubai Marina, this café specialises in all things matcha, with over ten unique flavours to explore. The branch is particularly enthusiastic about the benefits and relaxation properties of matcha – using homegrown matcha made especially for its customers. Location: Dryp Studio, Orra Tower, Dubai Marina Koncrete This Emirati-owned café showcases a spacious, sleek and minimalistic space to unwind. Earlier this year, Koncrete introduced Coco Matcha – an organic and refreshing blend of coconut water, topped with premium creamy matcha. This delicious beverage combines an exciting blend of both tropical and earthy flavours which stem from the matcha powder itself. Location: 787 Jumeirah Street, Dubai Oath Oath boasts a soft and serene atmosphere, making it the perfect place to enjoy a good book and a tasty treat. This gorgeous café embraces all things matcha and experiments with innovative desserts, such as the Matcha Soft Serve. Location: Jumeirah 1, Wud Flowers Bkry With expertise in crafting premium grade matcha – Bkry has truly embraced the creative art of matcha making, having just recently released two new flavours: Strawberry Hibiscus, which boasts strawberry cloud foam and white chocolate meringue, and Blueberry Lavender, which adds a touch of blueberry foam and lavender meringue. Location: Alserkal Avenue, Street 17, Al Quoz, Dubai IYKYK Dubai This spot is a community club with a unique and creative edge. In a Bazaar Arabia exclusive, Villa Aumédan founder Ahmad AlMuhassin discusses the innovative beverages curated specifically for their customers to indulge in, with the 'Matcha with Coconut Milk' being its must-try drink. This stylish café has put a creative spin on Matcha through the launch of their Matchagato – a French vanilla soft serve ice cream topped with hot matcha. Location: Jumeriah 1, Dubai Cult Matcha by TRIO This gorgeous matcha pop-up in partnership with ELEVENiSH is an expansion of the branch TRIO – and delves into all things matcha. The cosy café includes a takeaway menu, an outdoor seating area, and even a drive-through for when you fancy a matcha on the go. The cult favourite beverage is said to be the Strawberry Foam Matcha. Location: Eithad Towers, Abu Dhabi Knot Bake House This chic bakery launched Spring, 2014, and has become a big name in matcha – offering a range of delicious items, from desserts and pastries to classic lattes. The indoor seating area provides a chilled place to sit and socialise with friends or family, with a variety of delicious matcha flavours to try, such as the salted caramel matcha. Location: 403 Jumeirah St, Al Athar Street, Dubai Matcha Union This wellness company founded by Louisa Birkhahn, specialises in premium and ceremonial grade matcha – designed to give you a boost towards a healthier lifestyle, whilst indulging in self-care. Matcha Union incorporates sustainably sourced Japanese matcha for a delightfully smooth and rich finish. Location: The Edit, Warehouse 48, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai Crème With the recent launch of their new Blue Matcha range featuring; Blue Milk matcha, Blue Coconut matcha and Blue Green Matcha – Crème bring a distinctively refreshing approach, truly elevating your matcha experience. Locations: Dar Wasl and The 77 Valley, Dubai Café Kitsuné For an enhanced experience featuring bold and smooth flavours, visit Café Kitsuné. This chic Parisian-inspired café is a great place to unwind, featuring sleek and contemporary interiors. They have recently launched a custom made ceremonial matcha powder, with a selection specially curated beverages to try, including Matcha Bergamot Fizz. Location: The H Residence, Al Safa, Dubai Paus; Paus; Dubai is perfect for those looking to escape the city and have a quiet moment with a refreshing drink in hand. The lush greenery and multistory villa make for a cosy spot to catch up with friends. Their selection of matcha is sourced from entirely organic ingredients, with dynamic flavours such as Green Coco matcha and Pistachio matcha on offer. Location: Al Wasl Rd, Umm Suqeim, Dubai Tania's Teahouse Enjoy a refreshing cup of matcha at the picturesque rebranded Tania's Teahouse. The café features vibrant pastel hues and whimsical patterns which are the perfect backdrop for an Instagrammable snap. They serve a range of drinks with dynamic infusions, such as Minty matcha and Chai matcha. Location: Dubai Hills Estate، Business Park 3, Dubai Pekoe tea & bread bar Indulge in a rich array of matcha drinks at Pekoe tea & bread bar, including their signature mix, The Amazon, an inviting blend of high-grade matcha, milk, and honey. This cosy artisanal bakery is the perfect place to relax while enjoying fresh pastries and a smooth, rich beverage. Location: Alserkal Avenue, Warehouse 59, Dubai More Matcha Matcha enthusiasts will love this sage café serving a myriad of matcha-infused desserts and freshly brewed drinks. Choose from their extensive menu with a special selection of seasonal winter drinks, including cinnamon matcha. Location: DIFC, Gate Avenue Joe & The Juice Globally loved franchise Joe & The Juice is the perfect place to grab a cup of matcha on the go. With delivery options and multiple branches around the city, you can easily order your daily fix of hot or iced matcha hassle-free. Location: The Galleria Mall, Dubai Design District, Mall of the Emirates and others. Nette Enjoy a cup of premium matcha in the luxe and green surroundings of Nette, a French-Japanese restaurant nestled in the picturesque Matcha Club Al Quoz. Their freshly made matcha is the perfect blend of creaminess and bold flavour, accompanied by the scenic beauty of the venue.
Telegraph
01-03-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
Is a cup of decaf tea any better for your health?
Britain runs on tea. The average person in this country drinks 844 cups a year, enough to fill two bathtubs, and more than a third of us get through three cups or more in a single day. Fortunately for us, our tea-drinking habit also brings a boost to our health. Drinking tea regularly has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, lower cholesterol and improve our gut health, as well as help to reduce stress. But when it comes to the caffeine in tea, large amounts might not be so brilliant for our health: drinking tea in excess of five cups a day can also lead to digestive issues, anxiety, increased heart rate and difficulty sleeping at night, all because of the caffeine at play in our favourite hot drink. Is decaf tea the answer? 'I'd certainly recommend that people drink tea, whether caffeinated or decaffeinated,' says Andrew Steptoe, a professor of epidemiology and psychology at University College, London, who has spent his career researching cardiovascular disease and ageing, as well as carrying out research into tea and its effects on stress. 'It's much better for you than plain water, not to mention fizzy drinks. I'd even say that there are more health benefits to tea than there are to coffee.' So can you have all of the benefits that come with the nation's favourite drink, while casting off any negative side effects, by switching to decaf tea? Does this bring us the best of both worlds? The experts are split. The pros of a normal cuppa Normal, caffeinated tea is fantastic for your health, providing a myriad of benefits, including: Lower blood pressure Increased protection from some cancers, including oral, skin, breast and lung cancer Reduced risk of stroke Boosted immune system Lower inflammation Improved gut health Reduced stress and anxiety Lower cholesterol Tea contains more than 200 different compounds aside from caffeine, all of which are thought to work together to bring benefits for our health. How does decaf tea differ from normal tea? Decaf tea is tea made from the same leaves as the standard brew, both green and black from the leaves of the camellia sinensis tea plant. The difference is that these leaves have been treated with solvents or carbon dioxide, or soaked in hot water (known as the Swiss water method), in order to remove the caffeine from them. This removes over 99 per cent of the caffeine from the tea leaves. The main difference and drawback of decaf tea is that 'the decaffeination process strips away some of the polyphenols in tea,' whether the tea that's been decaffeinated is green or black, and regardless of the method, Prof Steptoe says. 'Most of the positive health impacts we see from drinking normal tea come from the polyphenols in tea leaves,' notes Victoria Taylor, a dietitian at the British Heart Foundation. A powerful kind of antioxidant, polyphenols are found in many different plant foods and a diet rich in them has been linked to lower risk of heart disease, certain kinds of cancer and even dementia. Those same polyphenols also feed our guts, reducing inflammation and promoting the growth of more friendly bacteria. Some research suggests that tea can help to relieve the symptoms of conditions like irritable bowel syndrome (though caffeine in excess can make IBS symptoms worse). Exact figures on how much polyphenols are stripped away is difficult to come by – 'decaffeinated tea is a fairly recent innovation, unlike decaf coffee,' explains Prof Steptoe. One study suggests that the decaffeination process could reduce the concentration of polyphenols in green tea by as much as two thirds, The pros of switching to decaf tea Decaffeinated tea may bring fewer benefits for your health than caffeinated tea, then, but if you're someone who is sensitive to caffeine, or would like to keep drinking tea all the way up to bedtime, 'decaffeinated tea will still be very good for you,' Taylor says. On that note, reducing the amount of caffeine you consume by switching some of your daily cuppas to decaf could also do your heart some good. The British Heart Foundation recommends that people should drink no more than four to five cups of caffeinated tea per day, as caffeine in excess amounts can cause anxiety and digestive issues, as well as poor sleep at night. When it comes to stress reduction, whether drinking regular or decaf tea 'we've researched whether tea is stress-protective, meaning that it helps people recover more quickly from stress,' says Prof Steptoe. 'We found that people drink tea in a certain way, and the ritual attached to that is crucial. 'If you have a hard day at work, come home, sit down and are handed a cup of tea by your partner, it's the sitting down and the care involved that could be doing the work to relieve your stress.' Green tea versus black tea 'Most of the research into the health benefits of tea comes from the far East, where people habitually drink green tea rather than black tea,' says Prof Steptoe. Because of the picking and processing of green tea, it is more densely packed with polyphenols compared with black tea – as much as 15 per cent of the weight of dried green tea leaves is composed of polyphenols, compared with just 5 per cent of black tea leaves. While green tea is usually enjoyed without milk, we're used to adding milk to our cuppas in Britain. 'This might make the tea we drink less good for our health than the habits around tea drinking in Asia do,' Prof Steptoe says. However, a recent large study, using data from the UK Biobank, found that drinking two or more cups of black tea a day was associated with a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, even when people add milk and sugar to their mugs. 'Both kinds of tea are very good for you, and so are their decaffeinated versions,' Taylor says. 'There's no need to switch from black tea to green tea, or decaf black tea to decaf green tea, if you have a preference for one or the other.' How much caffeine is there in tea? The limit on safe caffeine consumption is 400mg per day. A standard-sized mug of coffee will contain anywhere between 113-247mg of caffeine, while a cup of black tea contains 40-60mg of caffeine, depending on how long it is steeped for and the blend being drunk. 'Generally speaking, green tea will have less caffeine in it than black tea. But the amount of caffeine in tea can vary hugely, based on the blend and how long you're steeping it for,' says Prof Steptoe. Yellow and white teas are picked even earlier than green teas, reducing their caffeine content further (and they are still packed with polyphenols). Decaf English breakfast teas All decaf teas still contain trace amounts of caffeine, as the decaffeination process can't fully remove caffeine from tea leaves. Different high street options contain different amounts of caffeine. How much decaf tea should I be drinking? Just as it's recommended not to exceed five cups of caffeinated tea per day, 'I'd recommend that people don't drink more than five cups of decaffeinated tea per day,' Taylor says. Verdict: Is decaf tea good for you? Both normal tea and decaf tea are good for you, our experts say. But, tea drinkers rejoice, the stronger stuff wins over decaf because of its health-boosting polyphenols. Taylor says: 'I'd advise that you drink caffeinated tea if you enjoy it, so long as you don't have too much of it or drink it too late at night. If you don't enjoy caffeine, have decaffeinated tea instead.'
Japan Times
22-02-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Japan struggles to fend off a world without enough matcha
Last year, the global demand for matcha put an unprecedented strain on Japan's tea industry, and it's likely to happen again. Murmurs of the 'matcha shortage' have been circulating since last fall, when well-known Kyoto tea companies Ippodo and Marukyu Koyamaen announced purchase limits on the finely ground tea powder for the first time. Tourists and local consumers found many stores completely sold out of certain products from these companies and others. The products that are scarce or sold out are mostly first-flush matcha (tea powder made from the first harvest of tea leaves of Camellia sinensis , the plant species that matcha is made from), which was historically used only for tea ceremonies but is now preferred by international consumers for everyday use. This matcha is harvested only once a year, so it's especially limited. But the demand is still booming for other types as well.
