I, like many of our readers, have been a huge caffeine addict for the majority of my adult life. I still remember my first energy drink while preparing for an all-nighter studying for finals at the tender age of 20.

Since then, there has rarely been a day when I missed my morning caffeine fix. Iced coffee, lattes, energy drinks, pure espresso shots—I never much cared for what form it took; as long as it had my favorite energizing drug, I was okay with it!

That began to change once I hit my mid-thirties. Suddenly, coffee was starting to feel a little harsh – I was getting jittery throughout the day, and if I had anything with caffeine after 12 in the afternoon, I could say goodbye to a good night’s sleep.

Despite this, I persisted with my morning ritual of having 2-3 cups of coffee. I started my workdays early despite never being a morning person, and the morning meetings would have been nearly impossible without a small pick-me-up.

That all changed after a doctor’s visit revealed that my habit was contributing to the high levels of cortisol in my system, which was throwing everything out of whack. My doctor told me to limit myself to one cup of coffee a day at maximum—an impossible ask, but it had to be done.

To help ease me into the new routine, I started looking into some alternatives that would allow me to spread the caffeine into a similar number of cups as I was used to. I tried chaga mushroom coffee, then green and black loose-leaf tea, but I didn’t like the taste of any of them.

On a friend’s suggestion, I tried a matcha latte at my local coffee shop and found myself smitten. I immediately went online and ordered a large tin of the highest quality matcha I could find and eagerly awaited my newfound morning beverage.

The package finally arrived, and I wasted no time in trying to make my first official matcha brew. It turned out terribly – the powder refused to mix properly with the spoon I was furiously swirling in the cup, resulting in a very powdery, grimy broth.

Undeterred, I went online to find out what I was missing. It turned out that the secret to creating a successful morning matcha ritual was using a specialized whisk to mix the powder into a smaller amount of water.

I learned this secret from a video series made available by a small company called Shayna’s Kitchen. They also sold a very pretty black bamboo whisk that matched my kitchen set perfectly – score!

With both the matcha and the whisk in hand, I was finally able to savor the sweet, floral flavors I had been waiting for. Nowadays, I can’t even bring myself to order coffee when I go out – it’s matcha all the way for me!

If you’re looking to get the ideal matcha brewing experience, it’s hard to go wrong with Shayna’s Kitchen. Give them a look today!

Shayna’s Kitchen