Matcha at Home, 5 Levels: Traditional to Ultimate
Listen, we have to talk, because the matcha is getting out of hand. You can get a matcha latte about anywhere in big cities and they're delicious, but they're also expensive. So let's take things into our own hands and make them at home for a fraction of the price. Five levels here: level one is the traditional Japanese matcha you should drink at least once in your life, level five is a fusion creation I made specifically with you in mind. Each level makes one drink. The times in the front matter are for the full level-five build, levels one to four take minutes.
Ingredients
- 3 g ceremonial-grade matcha (the greenest color, finest powder, smoothest taste, kitchen grade is bitter)
- 75 ml hot water, 80 °C (175 °F), not boiling
- 4 g matcha (2 big scoops; latte grade is fine and cheaper here)
- 60 ml hot water, not boiling
- 200 ml milk
- 1 tsp maple syrup or condensed milk (optional, if you like it sweet)
- 4 tsp matcha
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 20 ml water
- 5 tbsp coconut cream or heavy cream
- 1 tsp maple syrup (optional, I skipped it, I'm sweet enough)
- 150 ml almond milk (or milk of choice)
- ice cubes
- 1 mango (or strawberries), for the puree, you use 50 g (1.75 oz) of it
- 1 tsp condensed milk
- 1 tsp matcha
- 60 ml hot water, not boiling
- 200 ml milk of choice (I used coconut milk)
- ice cubes
- 80 ml water
- 65 g sugar
- 120 g tapioca starch (added in two batches of 60 g), plus extra for dusting
- 70 ml water
- 150 g brown sugar
- 40 ml milk
- 50 g white chocolate
- 1/2 ripe mango
- 1 tsp condensed milk
- 3 big tsp matcha
- 40 ml hot water, not boiling
- 75 ml coconut milk
- 75 ml almond milk
- ice cubes
- 4 tbsp coconut cream
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 3 tbsp almond milk
- 2 tsp ube food flavoring
- freeze-dried strawberry bits, for garnish
Method
Level 1, traditional matcha
- 1
Sift 3 g of matcha into your matcha bowl through a fine-mesh sifter.
- 2
Pour in 75 ml of hot water at 80 °C (175 °F), boiling water burns the goodness and turns it bitter, and that's sad, right?
- 3
Soak your bamboo whisk in water for a few seconds to keep its shape, then whisk slowly in an M or W motion, building up to maximum speed. Around 15 to 20 seconds, aiming for a silky, smooth, frothy consistency.
- 4
Pour into a nice glass or drink it straight from the bowl. This is also the healthiest level, just matcha and water, full of antioxidants, with a longer-lasting energy effect than the caffeine spike from coffee.
Level 2, classic matcha latte
- 5
Sift the matcha into a bowl, add 60 ml of hot water (not boiling) and whisk. Pour into a latte glass.
- 6
Heat 200 ml of milk to 60 °C (140 °F), no longer than about 1.5 minutes on high in the microwave. Stir in the optional maple syrup or condensed milk.
- 7
Froth the hot milk with an electric whisk for around 20 seconds; done properly you hear almost no sound from the mixing.
- 8
Pour the milk over the matcha like a professional latte artist. If your art looks like a caterpillar, don't worry, it tastes awesome anyway.
Level 3, whipped iced matcha latte
- 9
Whisk 4 tsp of matcha with the sugar and 20 ml of water until there are no clumps.
- 10
Add the coconut cream (and optional maple syrup) and whisk until fully whipped and fluffy.
- 11
Fill a glass with ice cubes, pour in 150 ml of almond milk, then spoon the matcha coconut cream on top. Two layers, done.
Level 4, iced matcha fruit fusion latte
- 12
Blend the mango with 1 tsp of condensed milk into a smooth puree, hand blender or normal blender, whatever works.
- 13
Whisk 1 tsp of matcha with 60 ml of hot water (not boiling) until frothy.
- 14
In a tall glass: 50 g of puree first, ice cubes to the top, then slowly pour 200 ml of milk over the back of a spoon, and finally the matcha the same way. Three clean layers.
Level 5, the ultimate build
- 15
Boba pearls: boil 80 ml of water with 65 g of sugar, stir in 60 g of tapioca starch, then the other 60 g. Knead on the counter to a smooth ball. If the dough gets tough, a few seconds in the microwave makes it moldable again.
- 16
Roll the dough into long ropes around 3 cm thick and cut them into 1 cm pieces with a bench scraper, or just make them as thick as you think you can suck up through a straw. Roll into pearls (a helping hand is welcome here), toss in more tapioca starch, then boil 30 minutes and let them rest in their bath another 25 minutes until soft and translucent. You only have to do this once: the uncooked pearls freeze almost indefinitely.
- 17
Syrup: boil 70 ml of water with 150 g of brown sugar and reduce until bubbles form on top, thick, but pourable. Drain the pearls and coat them in it.
- 18
Ganache: melt 50 g of white chocolate into 40 ml of milk on low heat, combine, and set aside to cool.
- 19
Blend the half mango with 1 tsp of condensed milk into a puree.
- 20
Whisk 3 big tsp of matcha with 40 ml of hot water (not boiling), then mix in the 75 ml coconut milk and 75 ml almond milk.
- 21
Ube whip: mix the coconut cream, maple syrup, almond milk and ube flavoring into a purple milk, pour it into a whipped cream canister and charge with two charges.
- 22
Assembly: coat the glass with white chocolate ganache, add a few spoons of mango puree, 2 tbsp of boba pearls, ice cubes to the top, slowly pour over the matcha latte, dispense the ube whip on top and finish with freeze-dried strawberry bits. Make it fancy, I don't care if you do gold leaf or saffron.
9 tools I used.
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