What exactly is matcha?

Matcha is a nourishing, full-bodied tea that starts with an acerbic flavor and ends with a lingering sweetness. It is made by stone-grinding green tea leaves into a fine powder. This powder is thoroughly mixed into hot water and served without any sweeteners, eliminating the need for a bag. Because of the way matcha is prepared, entire leaves are consumed and their antioxidants along with them.    
    This makes matcha a very nutritious drink, and perhaps the healthiest tea you can buy. In fact, you would have to drink ten cups of green tea in order to receive the same nutrients that just one cup of matcha contains. Furthermore, Matcha holds 137 times more antioxidants than green tea.
    Matcha serves as a mood enhancer, concentration aid, detoxifier, and metabolism booster. It also helps prevent disease, lower cholesterol, and is high in fiber. A great jitter-free alternative to coffee, the tea has been used by Buddhist monks residing in Japan for its calming effects and as an aid in meditation.
        As it's essentially a concentrated green tea, it does have a strong, almost grassy flavor. Because of this, the flavor of matcha tea and foods that matcha is put into is heavily determined by the amount of powder used. It could just be that whoever made your smoothie just didn't know what they were doing. I personally enjoy matcha when it's done right, but I admit it's not for everyone. I've heard the ratio for tea should be 1 tsp per 2 oz of water, but if that's two powerful, try 1 tsp per 4 oz of water. One 8 oz smoothie recipe I saw used just one tsp of matcha, and that's worked for me. Of course, these aren't traditional ceremonial measurements, but if you want to enjoy it, sometimes you have to do things a little different.