How to Make Green Coffee: A Matcha Latte
Looking to take your lattes to the next level? Try adding matcha powder! Learn what matcha is and how you can make a matcha latte at home.
What is a Matcha Latte?
A matcha latte is a green tea-based drink that combines matcha powder with milk or a non-dairy substitute. Despite it's recent rise in popularity, matcha has actually been consumed for more than a thousand years, since the ancient Tang Dynasty in China. Matcha lattes are loved for their vibrant and distinct green color and nutty, earthy and slightly bitter flavor.
Like other teas, matcha is made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. Unlike other teas, matcha has a more careful growth, extraction, and brewing process. For example, manufacturers will grow the tea plant in shade during the last few weeks of the harvesting process. This is to slow the growth process so the tea leaves can develop their distinct characteristics.
After being harvested, the tea leaves are dried quickly to minimize oxidation. Then the stems and veins are removed and the leaf material is ground into fine green powder.
When making matcha tea, people traditionally use a bamboo whisk to help declutter and remove clumps in the powder. This is important because it gives the tea a more consistent flavor profile. People also use modern whisks or electric frothers to achieve a similar result.
Green Matcha Latte Recipe
While the drink is considered to be a latte, the recipe, in its simplest form, does not actually require coffee. In fact, matcha lattes are often used as a healthy, caffeinated substitute in place of the coffee lattes that you're familiar with. In this recipe however, we will be using both instant matcha powder and instant coffee to make the latte.
Ingredients
- 1 tsp of Waka instant matcha
- 1 tsp of Waka instant coffee
- 1/2 cup of hot water
- 2/3 cup of unsweetened almond milk
- 4–6 drops of french vanilla stevia
Instructions
- Add and mix Waka instant coffee to 1/4 cup of hot water.
- Add and whisk Waka instant matcha and stevia to another 1/4 cup of hot water.
- Heat almond milk to a simmer, OR for 90 seconds in the microwave.
- (Optional) Froth your milk with an electric frother.
- Slowly pour the hot almond milk into the matcha mixture.
- (Optional) Froth your espresso with an electric frother.
- Slowly pour the coffee mixture over the milk.
- Enjoy!
