Easy Ube Matcha Latte Recipe
Ube matcha lattes are shockingly easy to make at home! Easy to find ingredients make this recipe a snap! Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links.
If you’ve been following along my Instagram, you know I recently learned the secret behind those viral ube drinks: ube extract. After learning that the vibrant purple beverages I’ve been seeing all over social media only require extract and some sort of milk, I kiiiiind of went on an ube binge. I understand why ube is everywhere now: it’s actually really easy! Because it’s usually artificial!
That said, this Barney colored latte is fun to make, photograph, and drink, but it’s definitely not replacing my everyday matcha latte anytime soon. But it sure is fun for special occasions! If using artificial extracts doesn’t turn you off, and you’d still like to learn how to make ube matcha at home, then keep on reading!
What is Ube?
Ube is a purple root vegetable from the Philippines. It has a mildly sweet flavor, like a sweet potato. Also like sweet potatoes, it’s often used in desserts.
While fresh ube is hard to find in America, you can usually find ube halaya jam and ube extract, which frequently uses artifical flavoring and coloring. Ube extract especially is not too expensive and available even on Amazon.
How to Make Ube Milk?
Recently, at least in Seattle, where I live, there has been a rise of Asian fusion sweets and drinks, one of the most popular being ube lattes. Usually in these drinks you can see a vibrant purple milk layered with either coffee or matcha.
Well, it turns out that this eyecatching purple ube liquid is just ube extract plus milk! You can make your own at home super easily by mixing one cup milk of choice with 1/8 tsp ube extract. Add up to 1 tsp of liquid sweetener, like maple syrup, if you so desire.
And that’s it! Now you have some ube milk that you can drink with coffee, matcha, or anything else!
What Matcha to Use for Lattes?
If you are relatively new to making your own matcha at home, I highly suggest reading my Ultimate Guide to Matcha post. It will walk you through all the different kinds of matcha and how to select the right one for you.
If you don’t really want to bother with that kind of research, I highly recommend buying Ippodo Tea’s matcha blends. For lattes, I recommend one of their balanced blends, like Ikuyo, or rich blends, like Sayaka. The light blends may have too light a flavor to compete with the ube milk.
More Matcha Recipes
If you love matcha, check out these other matcha recipes:
- Iced Matcha Latte
- Matcha Horchata Latte
- Matcha Crinkle Cookies
- Matcha Checkerboard Cookies
- Mini Matcha Cupcakes
Easy Ube Matcha Latte
Ingredients
- 1/8 tsp ube extract
- 1 cup coconut milk (or other milk)
- 1/2 tsp maple syrup, optional
- 1 tsp high quality drinking matcha
- 1/4 cup hot water
- ice
Instructions
- Sift matcha into a matcha bowl (chawan) or other heatproof bowl and heat water to approximately 80 degrees C (hot, but not boiling).
- Using a bamboo whisk or a hand frother, mix hot water and matcha until frothy. Set aside.
- In a separate glass, mix coconut milk, ube extract, and maple syrup or other sweetener (if using). Set aside.
- Fill a 12 oz glass with ice and pour in your ube milk.
- Gently pour matcha on top. For a layered look, aim your matcha to hit an ice cube instead of directly into the liquid.
- Mix your latte before drinking and enjoy!
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