Supermodel’s Summer KISSA

I had only experienced matcha in matcha lattes before, but only drank them rarely. For the Suppito cookbook, I photographed wonderfully green matcha muffins and was allowed to eat them afterwards. I liked the slightly tangy and sweet taste. But it's since my photo shoot with KISSA that I have almost entirely substituted my daily coffee with matcha, the green picker-upper.

KISSA, a new tea brand, was created by the only tea king in Europe, Thomas M. Grömer. Thomas studied for his degree in tea science in Japan. Very exciting! Just like the products he has created, which are sold in small, exquisite tins.

Creating matcha recipe food photos was a new one for me - and an interesting challenge to boot. But green is the colour of hope, isn't it, and green was the colour of my kitchen after I've spent an entire day experimenting with matcha, making salads, dressings, non-alcoholic refreshments, cocktails, even bread. Before I start a photo shoot like this one, I need background knowledge of the product and a concept for the image I'm trying to project. Creating the styling for unusual types of tea and finding beautiful containers that look like makeup tins was great fun.

Matcha literally means "ground tea" and comes from Japan. Only the best green tea is used for it, and is ground to a fine powder, a process which produces the intense green colour. Matcha is of extremely high quality and therefore valuable and quite expensive.

I particularly like Naughty Popcorn Genmaicha - not just because of the name, but also because of the way it looks: this green tea contains rice popcorn and is really delicious as a topping for grilled dishes, instead of rosemary, for example, or mixed with olive oil as a bread dip. The tea is described thus: „Cheeky Popcorn & roasted rice meet deliciously light Sencha in this Naughty Popcorn Genmaicha. Nutty and bewitchingly aromatic.“

KISSA only work with the best organic tea farmers in Japan. And I can confirm that you can really taste the difference.

Matcha is whisked to a frothy, creamy consistency with a so-called matcha tea whisk. The green powder not just a quick picker-upper, but has long-term health benefits as well: matcha is full of antioxidants and counts among the superfoods. The whole leaf of the tea is ground up and used, so all vitamins, minerals and fibres are preserved - as opposed to in normal green tea, where they are extracted.

Matcha tea has only half the amount of caffeine as coffee, but it's equally stimulating and has a balancing effect on the system. If you want to give coffee a break, matcha is the ideal alternative energy booster: it wakes you up and focuses the mind, but doesn't make you as restless as coffee does. The concentration of antioxidants like EGCG in matcha is 137 times higher than in common green teas.

Science has known about the healthy properties of matcha for a while. It is believed to rejuvenate skin and burn excess fat, which Japanese scientists think the catechins contained in the tea are responsible for. They catch the free radicals from sunlight and the environment and prevent them from entering the skin. Hollywood stars on diets don't ever manage without matcha - and I don't either anymore!

And here are my two self-made matcha summer drinks...

 

 

logo

Matcha Mock- and Cocktails

Ingredients:

Ingredients for ½ litre of lemonade:

  • 3 tsp KISSA Supermodel’s Secret
  • 500ml water
  • 1 untreated lemon
  • 1-2 untreated limes
  • 1 untreated grapefruit
  • 1-2 TBSP elderflower syrup
  • basil leaves to taste

For the ice cubes:

  • raspberries
  • untreated lemon
  • rose blossoms (buds), Sonnentor brand, for example
  • water for the ice cubes

Ingredients for 1 cocktail:

  • 1 tsp KISSA Green Tea Sweetheart Kukicha
  • 2-3 peaches (ideal are Weinberg peaches with fine, white pulp)
  • 1-2 tsp cane sugar syrup
  • 200ml water
  • 10 cl rosé prosecco or champagne
  • water for the ice cubes
  • rose blossoms (buds), Sonnentor brand, for example

Preparation:

Preparation of Supermodel’s Summer KISSA:

  • Mix KISSA Supermodel’s Secret Matcha Powder with a little water (around 150ml) and beat to a froth with a matcha tea whisk. Then add the rest of the water and refrigerate. Alternatively: whisk the matcha powder and the water with a handmixer until frothy.
  • In the meantime, wash lemon, lime and grapefruit with hot water, rub dry and cut into fine slices. Wash and shake dry the basil.
  • Add the slices of lemon, lime and grapefruit to the elderflower syrup in a jug (add more elderflower syrup to taste) and pour the cold, frothy matcha tea over them. Mix under some ice cubes and garnish with basil. Serve ice cold and give the summer a hearty kiss!

Preparation of Sweetheart’s Sparkling KISSA (Cocktail):

  • Add the rose buds to the ice cube tray, add water and leave in the freezer for around 8 hours.
  • Bring water to the boil (to 70°C), pour over the KISSA Sweetheart Kukicha and let steep for 2 minutes. Then leave to sit in the fridge.
  • In the meantime, peel some peaches for the puree - pick very ripe and sweet ones.
  • Then whisk the pulp to a fine mash in a food processor or with a hand mixer and add the Sweetheart Kukicha. Sweeten with a little cane sugar syrup according to how ripe the peaches are.
  • Pour the Sweetheart Kukicha and peach mash into a champagne glass and add half the prosecco or champagne. Carefully stir with a bar spoon.
  • Add the rest of the alcohol and stir again, gently. Garnish with the rosebud ice cubes and some Sweetheart Kukicha stems and enjoy a sparkling summer kiss!

Notes:

Tip: Serve Supermodel's Summer KISSA with a splash of gin and turn it into a refreshing summertime aperitif.

Print recipe