Recipe: Oat Milk Matcha Latte

Is your New Year’s resolution to add healthy habits or cut down on spending? Try making this trendy drink at home to replace your usual coffee outing with a peaceful morning ritual that’s all yours.

Matcha is a uniquely earthy and aromatic green tea that originated in China and was adopted by Japanese Buddhist monks, who used it as a ceremonial tea to aid in meditation. (Matcha has a whole fascinating history you can read more about here.) In the centuries since, it has been popularized around the world.

And for good reason. Matcha has several health benefits for the casual drinker. Because matcha is ground into a fine powder and mixed directly into your drink, it’s one of the few types of tea leaves that you actually consume. That means drinking matcha gives you tons of antioxidants and vitamins.

Western adaptations of matcha differ greatly from its original traditional uses. Today, you’ll see it everywhere from boba tea chains to ice creams. Most recently, it’s become one of the trendiest coffee shop orders, whipped into an oat milk latte and flavored with everything from vanilla to lavender to shots of chai.

Create your own meditative moment in the morning with this oat milk matcha latte recipe.

The Right Ingredients

• Matcha (1 teaspoon). In any recipe, the quality of your ingredients makes a huge difference. This is particularly true when preparing matcha, as the taste may be drastically impacted if using lower quality. We used an ethically sourced, ceremonial grade organic matcha.
• Oat milk (1 cup). The quality of your oat milk is also important here. Oat milk can be a bit temperamental; barista-grade oat milk will work best for lattes because it froths well. Also keep in mind that the consistency and taste of oat milk will degrade when heated above 160 F. Therefore, you should not skip the cooling period!
• Sugar (2 teaspoons). Maple sugar and vanilla sugar add a nice depth of flavor to your drink; we recommend adding 1 teaspoon of each. You can substitute these for regular sugar, honey, or any other sweetener.

Preparing Matcha

Chanoyu, the tea ceremony in which Japanese Buddhist priests use matcha, is a significant cultural art form practiced widely today. The tools used to prepare matcha reflect its beautiful history. You can read more about this cultural practice, which is deeply connected to how we consume and prepare matcha, here. Traditional tools used to prepare matcha include a chawan (bowl) and muddler, chakoshi-uke (sifter), and chasen (whisk).

Making Your Latte

• Add 1 teaspoon of matcha to your bowl using a sifter to avoid clumps, which are more difficult to whisk.
• Add 2 teaspoons of sugar and crush with a muddler until sugar crystals are crushed into a powder.
• Add ¼ cup of boiling water and whisk briskly until mixture begins to froth.
• Set aside and let cool slightly to a comfortable drinking temperature (around 150 F).
• Add 1 cup of oat milk to a 32-ounce Mason jar and close the jar. Shake until the mixture froths.
• Pour matcha mixture and oat milk into a large glass over ice. Dust with matcha powder and enjoy!

For more tea, find the best boba tea in Texas, local kombucha brands we love, and a bunch of twists on sweet tea.