The Easiest Ube Latte
If you have ube extract, milk, and coffee, then you have all the ingredients for an ube latte. Use espresso, Vietnamese coffee, or any other strong brew that you like.
Ube – the Cool New Girl You Can’t Help but Like
I really feel like ube has taken over the Asian American world. When I was in high school, everyone was obsessed with taro. I guess taro wasn’t quite purple enough because now it’s all about ube. I see ube pancakes, ube waffles, ube ice cream, ube everything!
Modern Vietnamese coffee shops are also very trendy right now, both in California and Seattle, and I am definitely NOT complaining. I love me a classic cafe sua da. I also love all the fun new drinks I’m seeing: banana coffee, coffee with pandan milk, and of course, coffee with ube!
What is Ube?
In case you are new to ube, it’s a purple root vegetable with a mildly sweet flavor. Think of it like a sweet potato, but… way more purple. Or like taro! But… way more purple.
Ube comes from the Philippines, where it is used in desserts like halo halo and also made into jam.
In America, I have a hard time finding fresh ube consistently. But my local Asian market usually has ube extract and ube halaya jam in stock, so you’ll see most of my ube recipes use those.
Making Ube Milk at Home
Since I have been experimenting with more ube recipes at home, I’ve become quite familiar with using ube extract and jam. It dawned on me recently that there’s NO WAY all those ube drinks I’ve been paying $7 a cup for at my local Vietnamese coffee shop have any actual ube in them. Which means they use extract. Which means I can make the exact same thing at home.
A quick google search led me to the same conclusion – all those ube lattes with purple ube liquid are made with just some extract mixed with milk. How easy is that?
I can find ube extract at my local Asian market, but if you don’t have an Asian market near you, there’s always Amazon. I buy the Butterfly brand, and although it’s more expensive on Amazon, it’s still cheaper than buying the drink at a cafe.
To make ube milk, just mix a few drops of extract with a cup of milk. Seriously. That’s it. I use about 1/8 tsp per cup, but you can adjust more or less depending on your tastes.
Ube Cream and Cold Foam
I called this recipe the EASIEST ube latte for a reason. It really is simple. I just mix extract with milk and then add in my coffee. Done! Ube latte!
But if you’d like to make things a little more complicated, you can try doing the fancy things like adding ube cream or cold foam. For a foamier ube, you can mix your extract with milk and then use a milk frother. And for a super thick and creamy ube topping, just mix a little extract with heavy whipping cream and sugar, just like you would if you were making fresh whipped cream at home.
For your coffee, I honestly just instant coffee most of the time. But I do love my Moka machine, which gives you a very strong brew, almost like espresso. If you’ve got a fancy espresso machine, you can use that. Or if you have a phin filter, you can make yourself a Vietnamese coffee as well.
More Ube Recipes
If you’re fully on board with the ube trend, check out some of these other recipes:
The Easiest Ube Latte
Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut milk or other milk substitution
- 1/8 tsp ube extract
- 1 tsp maple syrup or sweetener of choice
- 1/4 cup strong coffee or espresso
- Ice
Instructions
- Mix coconut milk and ube extract to make ube milk.
- Fill a 12 oz glass (or larger) with ice. Pour in ube milk and sweetener, if using.
- To create a layered look, gently pour your 1/4 cup strong coffee or espresso, aiming the stream to hit the ice instead of the milk. Stir and enjoy.
Notes
- I actually prefer a slightly weaker ube flavor, using 1/8 tsp of extract for about 1 1/2 cups of milk, which is enough to split between two 12 oz glasses. It’s completely a matter of taste how much extract you want to use.
- 1/4 cup is about the volume of two espresso shots, but you can also use Moka coffee, Vietnamese coffee, or even a strongly made instant coffee. For a weaker coffee flavor you can use drip or cold brew as well.
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Hi! I didn’t feel like I could taste any of the ube following the recipe. Any suggestions for how to get a bolder ube flavor? I was expecting the drink to be sweet and all I tasted was coffee. I have never had an ube latte but I have enjoyed different ube/taro desserts.
Hi McKenzie, thanks for your question. You have actually quite a lot of options! One is you can increase the amount of ube extract in your milk. I would mix your ube milk first, taste it, and see if you would like to add more. I am personally using the Butterfly brand of ube extract, which I find very strong, but other brands may be weaker. Another option you have is to use a less strong coffee or decrease the amount of coffee so that the milk flavor is stronger. Let me know if you find something that works for you!