Healthy, sugar-free matcha latte

With eye-catching swirls of brilliant green matcha spreading amongst the milk, the iced matcha latte is always a crowd favourite among café drinks. One cup usually costs at least $6 and is often sweetened to cover up any bitterness or earthiness of the matcha. Because of the unit economics of operating a physical café, it is also quite common for lower cost matcha to be used – these are usually not the best if prepared without any sweetener.

If you’re trying to adopt a healthier lifestyle, these are both poor alternatives. The good thing is that making your very own tasty sugar-free matcha latte (for less than $6) at home is definitely feasible. This way you have full control over what goes into your matcha latte.

If you intend to avoid sweetener in your matcha latte, the reality is that you need to use good quality matcha with less bitterness.

The tricky thing about sugar-free matcha latte is that you have to use higher quality matcha since there is no sweetener to mask any unpleasant notes or bitterness. The great news is that our Superior Blend fits the bill. It has low bitterness, is smooth and quite mild. Plus the subtle umami goes very well with plain milk even without sweetener. It’s really quite good for sugar-free matcha lattes!

The best way to do this is to make a “matcha shot” using the bamboo whisk, and then pour the shot over the iced milk. You can do this by whisking the matcha powder with water using a bamboo whisk. Then, fill a glass cup up with ice and add milk. Pour the matcha mix into the glass of milk in a slow, steady stream. The matcha mix should suspend above the milk, forming two distinct layers of green and white that gradually mixes over time. Don’t forget to take some pictures before indulging!

If you do not own a bamboo whisk, another quick and hassle-free way to make an iced matcha latte on the go is by shaking it in a bottle or a mason jar.

Loose matcha powder does not mix well with milk, so it’s important to first mix matcha and water before mixing that mixture with milk. To avoid any problems, we recommend you follow the steps set out below for the “shaking in a bottle” method.

First, pour in the matcha powder and cold water in the bottle. Then, shake the bottle vigorously until all clumps are dissolved. Add in the milk and give it a good shake. If want to go for the aesthetic “gradient effect”, you can just pour the matcha mixture over a glass of milk filled with some ice!

We use the whisk method for this recipe because since there’s no sugar added, the matcha taste will still be quite prominent. If you think you want a stronger matcha flavour, try reducing the amount of milk in units of 20 ml to achieve your desired taste.

Ingredients

• 2 tsp of our Superior Blend matcha
• 30 ml of hot water
• 200 ml milk (we used Meiji full cream milk)

Directions

1. Add matcha and water into a bowl and whisk using a bamboo whisk. If the matcha has been in the fridge for a while, we recommend giving it a quick sift to break up any existing clumps.
2. Whisk thoroughly until smooth. The consistency should be similar to gravy.
3. Pour out your milk and add ice cubes.
4. Pour the “matcha shot” into your milk. If you want to achieve the “gradient” or “cloudy” matcha latte look, add some ice cubes and pour the matcha shot over the ice cubes so that the green swirls slowly disperse.

This super quick and easy sugar-free matcha latte makes a great addition to your daily routine. Enjoy!