Recipe: Matcha Latte

I'd like to share a simple recipe for the best pick-me-up ever. Sometimes I get pretty tired just from operating in my second language much of the time, but I'm thankful I live in a place with wonderful tea and tea-drinking traditions. Here's my own fusion of my favorite Japanese and Western hot drinks: a matcha latte!

This matcha latte is not what you get at Starbucks and other coffee shops. I dislike those; they are far too sweet. This version has twice the caffeine punch, but without giving me the shakes from too much caffeine and sugar. It's closer to traditional matcha, but with milk and coffee!

You will need a chawan or similar--probably a round cereal bowl would work too--and a chasen (tea whisk), although I have been known to use a milk-frother in the past. I’m assuming that everyone has access to a metric measuring cup. That’s just how I roll these days.

Ingredients:

• 100 mL milk, heated to 70 degrees C (160 degrees F)
• 80 mL espresso… or very strong coffee
• 1 tsp matcha (green tea powder)

Tools and ingredients: espresso, warm milk, a chawan, whisk, and matcha powder. I used a chashaku (tea ladle) to measure the tea--2 big scoops.

Instructions:

1. Put the matcha powder in your chawan or bowl, then pour in the coffee and milk. (I've tried adding coffee after whisking, but that killed all the bubbles. When making traditional matcha, there's no milk anyway, so this time I added the coffee together with the milk.)

2. Whisk vigorously with the chasen. Imagine you are making a cappuccino; that should give you the right idea. Lots of tiny bubbles will form on the surface, and the matcha powder will be thoroughly mixed in.

3. Drink your finished bowl of matcha latte! Add sweetener if you must. I find that the sweetness of the milk balances the bitterness of the coffee and matcha, so I drink it straight.