Sakura Matcha Soda Recipe

This sakura matcha soda is a sparkling matcha drink lightly favored with cherry blossom syrup. It’s a perfect way to enjoy matcha without milk.

Matcha Without Milk: Thin Matcha (Usucha) and Thick Matcha (Koicha)

If you guys follow me on social media, you know that I’m a major matcha latte girl (#basic). But every now and then, especially as the weather gets warmer, I just want some straight up matcha. No cream. No milk. Just a thin liquid packed with vibrant green tea flavor.

(By the way, did you guys know I’m an SLP in real life? I can’t make beverages without categorizing their thickness. IYKYK.)

Anyway, you could definitely just add about a cup to a cup and a half of water to your usual whisked matcha. That kind of drink is called usucha, which means a thin matcha drink. It’s basically an americano, but matcha.

In contrast, there’s koicha, which means THICCC matcha. Like, you whisk so much matcha into water, it’s basically a matcha smoothie on its own.

That’s a little much for me, so I usually go usucha.

Sparkling Matcha a.k.a. Matcha Soda

Now, another way to spice up your usucha is to use sparkling water! And then you get (*drumroll*) sparling matcha!

If you’re thinking, that’s kind of weird, don’t knock it til you try it.

I once had a sparkling iced coffee at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery here in Seattle, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. And given that usucha is basically an americano, but with matcha, I figured matcha could handle some bubbles as well.

This is also basically the same thing as a matcha soda. Bubbly matcha. Whatever you want to call it, it’s good.

Now, you can drink your sparkling matcha straight with no sweetener. Or you can sugar or liquid sweetener. Totally up to your tastes. As for me, I thought it’d be fun to add some cherry blossom syrup!

Cherry Blossom Matcha Drinks

In case you didn’t know, every spring, Starbucks in Japan releases limited edition cherry blossom drinks. Think cherry blossom frappuccinos and lattes.

Well, inspired by Starbucks Japan, I thought it’d be fun to mix up my own cherry blossom drinks at home. After studying the ingredient lists of any Japanese Starbucks packaging I could find, it looks like most cherry blossom drinks use extract or artificial flavoring. On my hunt for some of my own, I found this cherry blossom syrup on Amazon, and it’s been working pretty well! It comes sweetened, so I don’t add any additional sweetener to this drink, but if you’re not a fan of the floral notes, you could add simple syrup instead.

If you ARE a fan of cherry blossom foods/drinks, however, definitely check out my strawberry sakura latte and sakura matcha latte recipes.

Tips on Choosing and Making Matcha

If you’re kind of new to matcha, definitely check out my Ultimate Guide to Matcha post. I give you recommendations on brands I like and how to choose matchas for different purposes (e.g. baking vs. drinking). I also go over some of my favorite tools for making matcha. For this recipe, I recommend you use your favorite matcha for drinking (I’m using Ippodo Tea). Make sure you have a sifter and a way to whisk your matcha (I use a bamboo whisk and bowl). Other than that, no special tools needed.

More Matcha Recipes

Big matcha fan like me? Check out these other recipes!

• Best Iced Matcha Latte
• Matcha Horchata Latte
• Matcha Butter Mochi
• Matcha Crinkle Cookies
• Matcha Chiffon Cake