The Ube-licious Matcha Latte
Matcha and Ube: the amazing match for your new latte!
Before we start with the recipe, a quick introduction to Ube: What is Ube?
Ube means tuber in Tagalog and is a purple yam originally from the Philippines. It differs from the sweet potato for its even sweeter and more mellow taste. There are some nutty and vanilla notes in Ube taste and is largely used in desserts in Filipino cuisine, often boiled and then mashed with condensed milk.
Ube has a similar nutritional profile to the sweet potato: it's high in healthy carbs, vitamins, and fibre. The purple variety was also recently shown to have extra-high levels of antioxidants, which can promote overall health. Ube has become popular all over the world and on social media not only for its lovely purple colour which makes everything very instagrammable but also for its surprisingly delicious taste!
And so, we decided to give it a try in our kitchen and match it with our Matcha, of course! These two tastes go very well together and following our recipe you will obtain a delicious latte with no need of added sugars.
TIPS:
- Matcha: The quality of the matcha tea you use to prepare your latte matters! We recommend using The Zen Tea Co. Organic Emerald Matcha or 18- Intense Green Matcha
- Ube extract: you can easily find it at Asian supermarkets or online
- Coconut cream: we used coconut cream to make our latte creamy and thick, however feel free to replace it with the milk of your choice!
- Coconut milk: we think that coconut milk is the best match for Ube Matcha latte as it gives your drink a tropical twist and its taste goes very well with both Matcha and Ube. You can of course replace it with the milk of your choice if you aren’t a coconut fan.
- Hot or Iced: we have prepared an iced version of Ube Matcha latte, however this drink is also delicious if you want it hot! Just warm up the ube coconut cream and the milk and you can enjoy a hot, ube-licious matcha latte!
Get the perfect and authentic Japanese matcha for your drink recipe from our shop:
The Recipe
PREP TIME: 5 mins
SERVINGS: 1 cup
Ingredients for one serving:
- 3g The Zen Tea Co. Matcha (we recommend Organic Emerald Matcha or 18- Intense green Matcha)
- 3-4 drops of Ube extract
- 30 gr of coconut cream
- 60 ml of coconut milk
- 80-100 ml hot water
- Ice
- Optional: sweetener – but we promise, you won’t need it!
Method:
1.Prepare Ube coconut cream: Add a few drops of Ube extract to the coconut cream along with about 10ml of hot water and mix well until combined. You can adjust the dose of ube extract to obtain the best shade of purple and the dose of hot water for the thickness you desire.
2.Prepare Matcha tea: sift 3 g of The Zen Tea Co. Matcha powder in a bowl and add 70ml of hot water not exceeding 80 degrees. Whisk well until smooth and froth
3.Put your drink together: in a glass pour coconut ube cream first. Add ice and coconut milk. Lastly pour Matcha on top.
4.Sit back, relax and enjoy! Make sure you take a pic and tag us on Instagram @thezentea
TRY THIS TOO!
Make it hot! Just warm up the ube coconut cream and the milk to make a delicious hot latte!
Get the best authentic Japanese matcha for your drink recipe!
If you need a top up of Zen... ehm, Matcha, get it from our online shop, click the button below!
Leave a comment and let us know how you enjoy your ube matcha latte, we would love to know
