This Matcha Maker Was Named One of the Best Inventions of 2020 and I Can Confirm It's Amazing

Five and a half years ago, my doctor advised me to stop drinking coffee, which at the time was akin to her asking me to stop drinking water. I knew about matcha vaguely, but when I could no longer have coffee, I turned to my favorite kind of green drink, and I have had a matcha every single morning since. I genuinely love the taste and am very particular when it comes to my matcha. The quality of the tea has to be perfect, as does the milk ratio. It can't be too bitter, and it definitely can't be too sweet.

I used to treat myself to a matcha most mornings, but since the pandemic, I've been making my special drink (a cross between a latte and an Americano) every morning. It's thoroughly enjoyable to drink, but the whisking of the matcha is a process. Enter the Cuzen Matcha System ($369). It was named one of the best inventions of 2020 by Time Magazine, and I got to see if it lives up to the hype.

The machine comes with matcha leaves, and it grinds them up into a powder, which is then whisked with water to create a shot of matcha. You can pour this shot into whatever drink you like, whether that's an Americano, latte, or even a lemonade. You can also choose your desired strength, creating your dream matcha. I'm a seasoned matcha drinker, so I always go with the strongest option. As someone who watches the Nespresso machine turn on every morning with envy, it feels amazing to not have to whisk the matcha myself. Plus, the machine is gorgeous.

The only issue I've run into with this machine is the cleaning. They have a bunch of videos you can watch on the site, which I did not do, so you'll likely have an easier time that I did. Ironically, as I was testing this out, I was listening to the Armchair Expert podcast, in which Dax Shepard, Monica Padman, and Carey Mulligan were all talking about the new matcha machine that Dax and Monica were obsessed with. As they continued to describe it, I knew it was the Cuzen machine, and if it's good enough for Dax and Monica, it's good enough for me.