Lemon Matcha Latte

Speaker 1 (00:00:06) - In this week's episode, we're doing a refreshing lemon matcha latte. We're going to hear the weed word from a UK listener and some fun cannabis facts for you. Welcome to Bite Me, the show about edibles where I help you take control of your high life. I'm your host and certified goe Marge and I love helping cooks make safe and effective edibles at home. I'm so glad you're here and thank you for joining me today. So welcome back friends. I'm so glad you're here. I'm so glad you're listening. If this is your first time joining us, welcome, welcome to the world of Bite Me, where we talk about all things edibles, most specifically, although we do branch out into some other things. Sometimes if you haven't heard any of those faces of cannabis interviews, I encourage you to check those out. But thank you for being here.

Speaker 1 (00:00:55) - I really appreciate each and every listening ear. I listen to a lot of podcasts. I talk to a lot of the other podcasters and it can be a lonely, lonely game. Podcasting. You're here, you're alone in your office or wherever you're recording talking to the ether. And when you get messages and and comments and and all that kind of thing back talking about how people enjoy your show, it really means a lot. So by all means, if you feel like you wanna reach out, you're thinking you enjoyed an episode or there's a recipe that you tried that you found particularly delicious or whatever the case might be, feedback of any kind, I would love to hear it because I am sitting over here at my computer waiting for those messages and emails to come in. Now as promised in the intro, we are still doing this weed word segment and if you're interested in submitting your own, you can do it via email or by the podcast hotline. You can find links to that pretty much everywhere. It's on the main page of the website. I think it's in the show notes on your podcast player. It's in my link tree if you're over on Instagram. Doesn't matter where you can send a voice message. And I find the voice messages particularly fun because it's always interesting to hear of person's voice to go with the name that you might have heard before. But in this particular instance, Leo from the UK shares his weed word,

Speaker 2 (00:02:20) - Hey, used some of their favorite, was really understood what it meant way.

Speaker 1 (00:02:59) - Now he kind of mentions in that I thought that was pretty interesting cuz he kind of mentions that he hung out with some South Africans who are using the word keif. And for most of my life, I shouldn't say most of my life, but probably for a long period of time in my life I thought Keif was keif. I think that's what it was. It's like only been in the last five to 10 years probably. And you know, I'm not a, I'm not a spring chicken anymore. It's only been in the last five to 10 years maybe that I've realized it was kee. And for the longest time I think I thank myself and I, I memory's a funny thing but I'm pretty sure my friends were calling it Kife as well. It's interesting because to me also when I think of Keefe, I think of that stuff that you collect on the bottom of your grinder and not necessarily the cannabis that I'm normally consuming, which is typically an edible form for myself.

Speaker 1 (00:03:48) - But when I am consuming flour and a dry her vaporizer, I think of the dried bud and not necessarily those little uh, crystals that come outta the bottom of your grinder. So people in all kinds of different places refer to it in all kinds of different ways as evidenced by the sheer number of things that we like to call it. No one just calls it cannabis. No one has ever just called it cannabis. And I find that so fascinating because if this plant that has been prohibited around much of the world for the last a hundred years and that's that designation is slowly being shed in different places over time. But if this plant was so unhelpful, would so many people from so many different cultures have so many different names for it. I think we all all know the answer to that and that leads us to the cannabis fact of the week.

Speaker 1 (00:04:43) - Yeah. So I found this one pretty interesting because it's sort of related to what we were just talking about 25 things you didn't know could be made from Hemp. And what was so interesting about this particular article, it actually comes from GLE Green Flower Media and I will link to it in the show notes so you can see the full list cuz I won't quote necessarily go through all 25. But this list is what is about what hemp can be used for and how long have we been using it for? Now this article suggests that the first recorded use of hemp dates back to over 10,000 years from China to Africa. Hemp has been an integral resource in many cultures. Even the Declaration of Independence was signed on hemp paper and in fact, just knowing that means how can it not be federally legal at this point in the United States?

Speaker 1 (00:05:36) - But I digress. They list here 25 things out of an estimated 25,000 things that can be made from hemp. So I'm gonna pick out a handful of particularly interesting ones. So the first thing we're gonna touch on today is fuel. Did you know that hemp could fuel the world? Hemp is the most cost efficient and environmentally friendly fuel crop depending on processing hemp can be produced two different types of fuel. Hemp biodiesel and hemp ethanol methanol. Number two, ink when researching what hemp can be used for. This one caught us by surprise. Hemp oil can be used as a base for non-toxic inks. And compared to the more popular materials like soy, hemp ink requires minimal processing and dries faster.

Speaker 1 (00:06:28) - Let's skip over a couple. Here's another interesting one. Carpet traditional carpeting is a big cult culprit for indoor pollution. The synthetic materials used to create fibers are not only loaded with toxic chemicals but trap allergens, debris, and other pollutants. Hem carpet on the other hand, actually reduces indoor pollution when made with eco-friendly materials. The carpet is also a hundred percent biodegradable. This is so fascinating because it's an allergy sufferer and I have asthma. I am allergic to a lot of environmental pollutants and seasonal, I have seasonal allergies as well. And so fascinating. I've never seen hemp-based carpet anywhere. I wonder if it's expensive. Here's another interesting one, batteries. Hemp-based batteries can be made at one 1000th of the cost of our current energy systems that can also outperform current energy storing technologies, a replacement to hazardous and non-environmental friendly batter units. Hemp batteries could help heal our planet.

Speaker 1 (00:07:36) - Next I'm skipping down a couple more plastic products. Did you know that hemp plastic is said to be five times stiffer and 2.5 times stronger than polyline plastic? Or that hemp plastic doesn't pose the health and safety risks associated with other plastic materials like glass fibers? Because the hemp plant is so diverse, there are many different types of hemp plastic from infused plastic to a hundred percent biodegradable hemp plastic. Well let's skip down a few more diapers. Americans are estimated to throw out over 18 billion, that's billion with a b disposable diapers each year durable. Without being bulky, hemp diapers are a better alternative. The absorbent, breathable and antimicrobial quality of of hemp fiber provides a comfortable fit while also being eco-friendly.

Speaker 1 (00:08:31) - Tofu love tofu, but avoiding soybeans, hemp tofu may be the answer. Using the same processing techniques as regular tofu, hemp tofu simply replaces the soybeans for hemp seeds while not quite the same textures, tofu, hemp tofu offers, uh, incredible nutritional profile. That makes total sense to me because my understanding of hemp seeds is that they're one of the most nutritionally complete, uh, foods on the planet as well. And last but not least, let's go with sneakers. Hemps resistant and long-lasting fibers are an ideal material for sneakers. Lightweight and breathable. Hemp sneakers are comfortable even when the temperatures are rising. So after seeing this list and there's a whole bunch of stuff I skipped over the descriptions for, I could probably list a couple of them here. Fiberboard makeup, butter, nail polish jeans, surfboards, milk, lotion, paper, not surprising flour bags, animal food, canvas, paint, varnish, shampoo, chocolate.

Speaker 1 (00:09:34) - And again, like like I said at the beginning of this article, there are 25,000 things that can be made with hemp. Maybe this new cannabis fact should be changed to uh, things that can be made with cannabis or hemp because that might be pretty fascinating. And just hearing this, it's like why isn't this becoming more pervasive? What is, what is the hold up to using hemp as a viable alternative to many of these things? And of course it's probably corporate America and capitalism and all the rest of that fun stuff. But it seems like between cannabis, hemp and mushrooms, the whole world could be healed with these plants that exist in abundance on our planet. So I'll leave that with you. Like I said, I'll link to it in the show notes so you can check that out cause I find that fascinating. Now let's get into today's recipe.

Speaker 1 (00:10:26) - And I have to give credit to this recipe. This was from recent podcast guest JE Alex. And if you haven't had a chance to check out that res or that recipe, if you haven't had a chance to check out that episode yet, I highly encourage you to go and check it out because it was a fun one. He spoke quite a bit about all kinds of things. He is a plant-based chef and he is a fellow like myself. And it was a fun conversation. So he provided this recipe for me to share with all of you. And I have to say that it was delicious. And not only was d was it delicious, but it received the seal of approval from Chris, which means something. He's not overly picky, but if he doesn't like something, he will not hesitate to let me know. And I can trust that he's not going to sugarcoat something.

Speaker 1 (00:11:13) - Well, and while I'd say that her tastes do vary somewhat, I, I think in my mind I have a broader palate for different types of foods and I do thank my mother for that. She traveled the world before she had kids and brought a sense of adventure to her home cooked meals. And even to this day as a child, I know I really didn't appreciate the diversity of the foods that she cooked. And you know, when you're seven years old and you're eating COOs, COOs or something weird and all your friends are, I don't know what your friends are eating lasagna or mac and cheese or something like that. Sometimes you wish to have what you didn't. But you know, fast forward to now and I am certainly grateful for that. And as another aside, my mother used to love having unusual Christmas dinners. So I've really gotten to the point in my life where, you know, if we don't have the traditional Turkey dinner or Easter dinner or whatever the case might be, I don't really worry about it because my mom would often be like, Turkey, fuck the Turkey, let's have sushi this year.

Speaker 1 (00:12:14) - I remember the year we did sushi, fantastic. One year we had spaghetti. Another year we did muscles, though that might have been the same year as a spaghetti. It was an odd one. But I, I have to say that I have come to really miss some of the odd things that she would do in the kitchen. And I would say that Chris has vastly broadened his pallets pallet since we met over a decade ago. And I'd like to take full credit for that because he's probably not here listening to this at the moment. So he can't really say anything otherwise. But he did enjoy this latte and I was able to whip it up in no time flat and it's warm and cozy to s and I was sipping on it in a pretty damp afternoon. But Mother's Day is coming up and this would make us a special treat for someone in your life that you want to be, you know, give thanks to for being an important part of your life.

Speaker 1 (00:13:10) - Since my own mother passed away, I'll be whooping up for myself and sipping it in her memory because there are many, many things my mother passed away about six years ago now and I think about her often actually Mother's with Mother's Day coming up. By the time this recording comes out, it'll be right before Mother's Day weekend and next month. I'm recording this in May and next month is June, which was her birth month as well. I mean she comes up in my memory all the time and she was such a curious person and always learning new things and there were so many things that happened that I really wish I could share with her. So I will be sipping this in her honor and I'll probably make you more for myself. I have to go out and buy some more coconut milk. But I'm, I've been thinking about trying it with milk as well.

Speaker 1 (00:13:59) - I don't really drink a whole lot of milk, but I always have it here because my mother-in-law who was living with us, Drake's milk and her tea is really the only reason we have it in the fridge. And he, Alex did intend this recipe to be plant-based because that's where his culinary roots lie. But I hope he doesn't see this a milk-based latte as a sacrilege, but it could be worth trying out. I am an omni omnivore through and through and Alex and himself is novo as well. And if you haven't yet listened to that episode, again I encourage you to do so. But you will likely need to pick up some items from the store for this particular recipe. And as a tea lover, it surprises me in some ways that I don't have matra in my cupboards. I always have green tea, I have puree pueri, which is a type of green tea.

Speaker 1 (00:14:44) - I have all kinds of tea in my cupboard actually, although I've been drinking a lot more coffee lately probably. But I had to go to the store and I do love green tea. So matra is supposedly very healthy for you because it's like the green tea leaves that has been ground up into a fine powder. So it is pricey I will say, but so be prepared for the sticker shock when you go shopping, but you don't need a whole lot. I believe one tablespoon is all that was needed for one batch according to the recipe. So a s a small package of matcha will work and you may find you enjoy it and wanna go buy more again because the matcha is ground up Tea leaves, oftentimes you'll find it organic. That's probably the better route to go if you can, if you can pull it off.

Speaker 1 (00:15:31) - But you'll need to pick up the matcha. You'll also need coconut milk gu gum, although I did skip this one because it was gu gumm in the milk that I already had in my cupboard. So I just use that and I do believe that it's a thickener so that it's going to give it a nice bit of a thicker consistency. I did happen to find agar agar in my cupboard when I looked because I have a ton of random stuff in my cupboards and it's no wonder why that they're exploding it, the seams. But I also had the sunflower lessin to aid with the bioavailability and emulsification. So I used a liquid one because that's what I happen to have. A powdered one would probably work just as easily maple syrup to sweeten it a bit. Some vanilla hot, he recommends hot hash oil high and eliminate limiting the terpene.

Speaker 1 (00:16:17) - I didn't have any hash oil and I wasn't about to go buy or make some, I did have some gong wise sweet skunk M C t oil tincture tincture that I used, however, and that's was a, a very suitable alternative to the hash oil. And I felt like the sweet skunk would've lent itself a little bit to the the flavor profile he was trying to go for. C t oil is essentially a refined coconut oil that remains liquid at various temperatures. Unlike coconut oil, this would work really nicely the coconut oil. So if you already have infused coconut oil, give that a shot. Honestly, you could probably use a little bit of infused butter too because it's just that richness would pair well with this. And again, the sunflower lessin is gonna help all these ingredients emulsify. So work with whatever you happen to have on hand.

Speaker 1 (00:17:08) - That's usually my motto for most things. You don't n need to overcomplicate things you don't feel like you've gotta do a specialty infusion just for one particular recipe. Find what, find what you got in your cupboards and make use of it because you've already put in the effort to do that. Finally, what you're going to need is a zest of lemon. So if you have that uh, lemon sitting on your counter that's gone a little soft and mushy because you bought it for some particular reason, didn't end up using it, that'll still work because that's essentially what I had to do. Don't tell the zest was still lemony though, so that's okay. So essentially for this recipe, you're gonna warm the coconut milk on the stove with your infusion, whatever you're using, your, your hash oil, your MCT coconut oil, whatever it is, you're going to mix it well and let it simmer for 15 to 20 minutes according to the directions in the recipe.

Speaker 1 (00:17:59) - This could have the effective of infusing some of the oil into the coconut milk. But frankly I couldn't wait that long so I only heated the milk for about five minutes and that seemed to work just fine for me anyway. But either way, if you have a bit of time and you're not so impatient as I was, go ahead let it simmer for 15 to 20 minutes maybe while you're puttering around your kitchen doing some other things. The rest of the ingredients you mix together and then you put them in the blender. But it probably would've been better, um, if I had mixed them first properly cuz I found that a little bit of the matcha, uh, had stuck to the bottom of the blender that I was using. But it basically, once the milk is thoroughly heated, you pour it into the blender and then hit the button and you blend and then you poured into your mugs and you grate some of that lemon zest onto your, onto your latte for garnish, visual peel and a nice taste in your mouth as you're enjoying the latte cuz it gives that lemony hint to it.

Speaker 1 (00:18:57) - And that's it. I mean the recipe can take up to 20 minutes, but it can also take like less than five minutes to make depending on how much time or how impatient you are at that particular moment. My only thought about this one though is that I found the recipe calls for one can of coconut milk and I found that it doesn't make a lot, the recipe suggested a can of coconut milk. Cause I went to my cupboard and I found a, a standard can and it ended up making like one and a half mugs of this delicious creamy latte. And it was really good, like I said earlier, and two to four serving seems like a stretch, but maybe I like how these were standard mugs that I was using. Not my usual morning coffee mugs, which are, uh, probably way bigger than they should be.

Speaker 1 (00:19:42) - I'm drinking one right now actually. And so also from a caloric standpoint, using a half can of full fat coconut milk, uh, would be calorically dense. We can just leave it like that. Um, I wouldn't necessarily recommend going for a light ver uh, I guess you could, but I just always find that when you're going for light versions of things like when it comes to full fat versus a light version, usually they're replacing the fat with something else, whether it's sugar or other ingredients, I don't really know. So I usually tend to go for full fat versions of anything. And maybe you can grease the volume with a little bit of coconut, like drinking coconut milk or add a little water. I'm not really sure. I may need to have to update on that. Maybe they come in bigger cans. I'm not really sure. However, that's the only, uh, ca caveat I took away from this is that the one can of coconut milk didn't seem to make a whole lot and I, I wish it made more honestly because it was so good and it provided a nice light buzz with the amount that I put in because obviously however much of the infusion that you put in, be sure you know how, how you've dod it so you don't overdose yourself.

Speaker 1 (00:20:57) - But you can also, I mean, because you put the, the infusion in with the coconut milk, it's going to infuse obviously the entire batch. But once again, you could probably also dose this per cup as well if you wanted to. I didn't do that. I used a lighter dose. So, and it's, it was a ratio of th the C B D because I knew I'd be serving it to Chris. You could certainly do it by the cup too. That wouldn't be a problem. It'd be pretty easy. This recipe was easy, it was plant-based. It was once you gather up some of your ingredients and it doesn't really require anything too unusual besides the matcha. If you're not really familiar with that, I hope you tried out and let me know what you think. I found it delicious and warming and I wonder if you could turn this also into an ice latte as the weather gets warmer.

Speaker 1 (00:21:48) - That's something else that I'll probably be trying out because I'm always looking for tasty drinks sometimes it's just a nice way to unwind in the evening. So let me know what you think as I said, and if you are listened to this, you think, I think so and so would really love this episode, please share. It really helps to spread the word about the show. I would also hope that you would join the edibles Enthusiast email newsletter so you can stay up to date with news and events, calls for questions from guests, giveaways, all kinds of things like that because it helps keep these episodes ti as timeless as possible. And as always, consider using the products and services on the Marge recommends page. I am your host March, and until next time, my friends stay high.