Superba Matcha blends ceremonial-grade matcha with clinical-strength probiotics and adaptogens to combat modern burnout. Founder May Hu shares how a personal health crisis led to the creation of this stress-supportive ritual, backed by gut-brain science.
It began with a question: what if your morning matcha could do more than just replace coffee?
For May Hu, founder of HerbloomZ, that question emerged after a stretch of physical exhaustion and emotional depletion — symptoms that were more than just overwork. “I was facing anxiety, an eating disorder, and serious digestive issues,” she told Ethos via email. “That moment sent me on a mission to find a real solution.”
The result is Superba Matcha, a ceremonial-grade matcha blend formulated with five clinically studied probiotic strains, adaptogenic mushrooms, and L-theanine to support stress, digestion, and mood in one daily ritual. Described by Hu as “a way to get your mind and body back on the same team,” the drink was created to offer an alternative to overstimulation — a gentler way to restore clarity and resilience at a time when both feel increasingly fragile.
According to the American Psychological Association, more than one in four U.S. adults report feeling so stressed most days that they can barely function. And in a 2023 study by McKinsey Health Institute, nearly 60 percent of Gen Z and millennials worldwide said they had experienced burnout in the past year. For Hu, that number is personal.
“My journey as a chef and content creator led to a severe burnout — culminating in a hospital room,” she said. That moment would eventually lead her to study nutrition at Cornell, then to Erewhon, the upscale Los Angeles grocer where wellness trends are often tested before they hit the mainstream. There, she said, “I saw a clear gap in the market for a single ritual that could provide calm, focused energy while simultaneously supporting the gut-brain axis for stress.”
The idea truly crystallized during a series of seasonal dinner parties, where Hu served therapeutic dishes inspired by her research. One dessert — a probiotic matcha creation — stood out. “When guests tasted a probiotic matcha dessert I’d made and repeatedly asked, ‘How can I get this calm feeling every day?,’ I knew I had found my mission. Superba Matcha is the answer to this question.”
What sets the drink apart is its formulation. At its core is 20 billion CFU (colony-forming units) from five targeted probiotic strains: Bifidobacterium lactis for modulating cortisol, Lactobacillus casei for emotional regulation, Lactobacillus plantarum for reducing gut inflammation, Lactobacillus fermentum for strengthening the gut lining, and Lactobacillus reuteri to support oxytocin production — the so-called “feel-good” hormone.
“Efficacy was my absolute priority,” Hu said. “Each of our five strains has a distinct, research-backed role, from helping modulate the body’s cortisol response to strengthening the gut lining and supporting emotional balance.”
Scientific research supports this approach. A 2021 review in the journal Nutrients found that probiotic supplementation can significantly reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety by modulating inflammation and improving gut permeability. The gut-brain connection is increasingly recognized in mainstream medicine as a central axis of mental and physical health.
And then, there’s the matcha itself. Known for its high levels of L-theanine, matcha has long been valued in Japanese culture for promoting what Hu calls “calm, clear focus.”
“While the caffeine provides a gentle lift, L-theanine simultaneously promotes a state of calm, relaxed alertness by increasing alpha brain-wave activity,” she said. “They work together to create a smooth, ‘calm-alert’ state of mind, so you get the focus you want without the anxious, jittery feeling that coffee can often cause.”
To that core, Hu added a trio of adaptogens: Lion’s Mane for cognitive clarity, Poria for emotional balance, and Maitake for vitality and immune function. “I think of the adaptogens as your body’s long-term resilience coaches,” she said. “While the L-theanine provides a more immediate feeling of focus, the adaptogens are working in the background to build your systemic resilience.”
The formulation reflects not only Hu’s nutrition training and herbalism background, but also the discipline of a chef who understands that no wellness product will last if it doesn’t taste good. “My soul as a chef demanded it taste amazing — smooth, clean, fresh, and not grassy and muddy,” she said.
But for all of its layers, Superba Match is ultimately meant to be simple — a single-step ritual that replaces the patchwork of pills, powders, and panic-induced quick fixes. “Most functional drinks are siloed: coffee for energy, greens powders for nutrition, probiotic pills for gut health,” Hu says. “Superba Matcha is a consolidated ritual that does the work of all three, but with a singular focus: your mood and your response to stress.”
It’s a point of differentiation that reflects a broader shift in wellness culture, from reactive to proactive, from optimization to restoration. Instead of chasing the next energy spike or dopamine hit, Hu wants people to find something quieter, more sustainable.
“I want them to feel a sense of grounded, calm clarity,” she said. “The opposite of a frantic coffee buzz.”
“Stress belly” and “brain fog” — phrases that are often thrown around with little nuance — is something Hu is careful not to overpromise on. “We never promise a ‘cure.’ We talk about support,” she says. “Our formula is designed to support the body’s own systems. The adaptogens and gut-brain supportive probiotics help the body manage a healthy stress response, which is at the root of many of those issues.”
By reducing cortisol, promoting digestion, and improving the microbiome’s communication with the nervous system, the drink’s ingredients work in tandem. According to a 2022 study published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, the microbiota-gut-brain axis plays a critical role in regulating mood, cognitive function, and stress physiology, further validating Hu’s approach.
Still, Hu insists that none of this works without intention. That’s why the brand encourages customers to slow down when making their morning cup: “Light our Bamboo Zen Candle, feel the texture of the Wellness Cup in your hands… taking that 30 seconds for yourself can truly change the texture of your day.”
And that may be the quiet power of Superba Matcha — not just what’s inside the cup, but the invitation to pause, to reset, to start the day with calm rather than chaos.
“I hope it helps shift our approach to stress management from a reactive chore to a proactive, pleasurable ritual,” Hu said. “So often, we wait until we’re already overwhelmed to try and ‘fix’ our stress. My deepest hope is that it helps people realize that finding their calm and power isn’t some huge, abstract goal, but something that can be cultivated in the small, quiet moments they create for themselves each morning.”
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