After many matcha (green tea) lattes at Starbucks, I finally learnt to make my own. This is such a fast and easy recipe, I can make myself a hot or iced latte any time I want a relaxing cafe moment at home.
The thing I love most about the home version is that I can tweak the sweetness to my liking. Most of the time, the matcha latte at most cafes is too sweet, and it irks me that the sugar is usually pre-mixed into the green tea powder. In the home version, the drink is sweetened independently of the green tea powder. I use maple syrup as I enjoy its rich deep taste. You can also experiment with various types of sweetener and milk to whip up your special barista blend.
The most important ingredient than milk is green tea powder. For best results, you need a bamboo tea whisk as well (background).
Use the bamboo tea whisk in a circular potion to form a smooth green tea paste.If you don’t have a tea whisk, just use a regular whisk or a milk frother (see picture below).
Love the pretty milk foam in lattes? You’ll need this nifty milk frother. I got mine from Ikea (above) for S$2.90. It’s also available in Daiso for S$2. You can whisk the milk by hand if you don’t have a frother but it’s going to be tiring.
To prevent splashes, the frother must be totally submerged in the milk before it is turned on or off (you’ve been warned). The milk also need to be warmed through (not boiling) else it won’t foam up nicely.
I used maple syrup from iHerb.com (use my affliate code WIF026 to get up to $10 off first order) to sweeten the latte. You can also use honey, sugar syrup, gula melaka (palm sugar) syrup or stevia.
Here’s the hot/warm version.
For iced latte, simply add iced cubes to your serving glass.
Dust a sprinkle of matcha powder to garnish your drink.
If your milk is already sweetened, skip the maple syrup or honey. Check out more tips at the end of the recipe.