5 Tips for How To Make The Best Matcha Latte (dairy-free)

What’s Inside: Check out these five tips for making the best matcha latte at home without a barista! I’m sharing my favorite brand, tools, and recipes for dairy-free hot and iced matcha lattes.

Make The Best Matcha Latte with These 5 Tips

If you’ve ever had an amazing matcha latte before and tried to recreate the magic at home, but felt frustrated or confused … I HEAR YOU. There are quite a few variables when figuring out how to make the best matcha latte without a barista holding your hand.

Through the years of being nosey and asking the baristas at various matcha cafes around NYC and tinkering with my own concoctions, I have so many tips to share on how to make a matcha latte of your dreams (that also happens to be dairy-free).

I also have hot and iced matcha latte recipes below for you that you can use as your template after familiarizing yourself with all the factors to take into account. Keep practicing, and you’ll love the ritual of making it yourself.

Green Tea vs. Matcha

My love of matcha all started after learning about the benefits and tasting it for the first time… YUM. Slightly bitter, cozy, and maybe even a little floral? This was WAY better than any bagged green tea, which always tasted like a foot in my opinion… anyone else? High-quality ceremonial grade matcha powder is a higher quality option and here’s why:

• Matcha is 100% green tea leaves that are ground into a fine powder, making it much more concentrated than green tea. You are consuming the entire leaf (needing less of the powder vs. a whole bag of green tea)
• Conventional green tea goes through a much longer production process, involving the leaves drying out in the sun. It’s not as robust as matcha both in flavor and nutrients.
• With the green tea, you steep for a few minutes and then discard, so you’re then getting even less of the nutrients vs. matcha where you are actually consuming the whole leaf.
• Matcha bushes destined to become matcha powder are also specifically kept in more shaded areas to increase the chlorophyll (detox powers) and amino acid levels in the leaves.

More benefits of Matcha:

• While both green tea and matcha share the same health benefits, matcha has 10 times the nutritional value of regular green tea and up to 137 times the amount of antioxidants – helping to fight free radicals!
• Matcha also has 130 times more calcium than normal green tea.
• Research also suggests that matcha has greater fat-burning AND cancer-preventing properties.
• The focus, clarity, and alertness that comes with matcha are unmatched and in comparison to coffee, there is 1/4th less caffeine (all the focus, with none of the jitters).

Plus, it’s delicious! Now, matcha isn’t not for everyone, but I would strongly urge you to try a few different recipes or cafes before settling on not liking it.

My love of matcha has grown more and more as I learned how to make it myself and learned what it should taste like, or at least, how I like it. It’s similar to coffee in that not all of it is created equally. There are some better quality brands/sourcing as well as kinds of milk to use… in fact for lattes, let’s be real – the milk is SUPER important because that’s most of your cup!

You want the matcha powder to really shine through it and not have the taste tampered down with sugar-laden dairy-free milk. Just like everyone has preferred coffee brands and preparation, it’s important to note the same thing with matcha (and I’m sharing my favorite clean brand below).

Looking for more tea recipes? Don’t miss my life-changing Lavender London Fog Latte! (plus, it’s AIP-friendly)

Tips for How To Make the Best Matcha Latte

Follow these five simple tips for making the best matcha latte in the comfort of your own home.

#1 Use good quality, ceremonial grade matcha

Yes, it’s more expensive than green tea, but as you read above… there are so many reasons for that! I’m listing below some brands I’ve either tried or have been recommended by friends I trust. That all said, I’ve also been told to hit up an international market to see if they have authentic matcha from Japan on the cheaps, so that’s always an option too!

Tip: My favorite is this brand: the WORLD’S CLEANEST MATCHA. It’s quadruply screened for toxins and mold, and there are easy on-the-go travel packets you can try, too!

#2 Use delicious milk

Lattes consist of mostly milk, so you’ll want to use a tasty one. Here’s a good way to decide… would you drink the milk alone? If not, maybe don’t use it in your matcha because unlike strong coffee lattes, you’ll definitely taste it. I love homemade dairy-free milk or, mylk when I have the time, but that’s not always possible, so I decide based on taste and quality (the fewer ingredients, the better).

And, as always, go for unsweetened milk so you can control the sweetness level in your latte on your own by adding some raw honey or another natural sweetener if you’d like!

When making a hot latte, you’ll want something that can get nice and thick/frothy, whereas for iced, it doesn’t matter. I like Elmhurst Barista milks or mixing a little full-fat canned coconut milk with any other nut-based milk also helps it froth. And if I’m going homemade, my favorite recipe is this almond milk made with coconut water!

You could also try any of these three no-strain blender milks:

• Coconut Milk — Simply use canned coconut milk and mix with a cup of filtered water, blend well, store in the fridge and use within 5 days.
• Hemp Milk — Mix 1/3 cup hemp seeds and 2 cups of filtered water in a blender at high speed, add cinnamon and vanilla if you wish! store in the fridge and use within a few days.
• Cashew Milk — Soak 1 cup raw cashews for at least 4 hours or overnight in water, drain and rinse well, mix in a high-speed blender with 3-4 cups filtered water (3 cups for creamier milk). Store in the fridge and use within 5 days.

#3 Strain and store your matcha properly

When you get your matcha powder, toss a few tablespoons in a small sieve/strainer and push it through with a spoon to get out all the clumps and further prevent clumping in the future as it sits. Nobody likes to hit a big ball of bitterness in their matcha – this is key to making sure your drinks are smooth!

Then store the matcha either back in the tin it came in or an airtight jar/container in a cool, dark place. If you don’t drink it often, the fridge would be fine. If you drink it daily, store it in a cool cupboard (not near your oven or fridge). Humidity tends to make for clumpier matcha powder that even the strongest whisking and blending can’t help sometimes.

#4 Ratio matters

Now, this depends on how strong your matcha is AND the taste you’re going for. I like it strong, so I try to figure out based on the brand I’m using what’s going to work.

Here is my general template: 1 to 1.5 tsp of matcha with approx. 2 oz. hot water and 8 oz. milk.

If I’m making an iced matcha latte, I’ll add more milk or just because of the ice, I steer towards the stronger side (1.5 tsp+). You can optionally skip the hot water and just blend the matcha with milk also, but I find it better pouring over the milk in my opinion, plus I love whisking it!

#5 Don’t burn the tea

It’s super important to not use boiling water. To make sure you don’t do this, you can grab a tea kettle with a thermometer on it (like this one). I stay around 175f – 200f degrees for the perfect temperature and do not go over that level.

Or, if using a traditional electric tea kettle that boils water, you can wing it and pull it off sooner or bring it to a boil and let it rest for 5-mins or so!

Have fun making matcha to your taste

Remember that practice makes perfect, and you should try different ratios, types of milk, and brands if you’re unhappy with something. There are times I go through phases with different kinds of milk, add-ins, and of course iced vs. hot. Once you find that sweet spot, you will LOVE it!

And if you have favorite matcha you buy at a cafe, just ask them how they make it! Inquire about the brand, the ratio, and milk. It’s a great way to learn how the masters do it day in and day out. In my experience, they’re usually excited to share their tips with you.

Best Matcha Latte Recipe (dairy-free, vegan)

Best Iced Matcha Latte Recipe (dairy-free, vegan)

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Recommended Tools, Sets, and Brands

More Matcha Recipes To Try

If you’re a fan of my Best Matcha Latte, then you’re sure to love these matcha masterpieces:

• Raw Matcha Coconut Cream Pie (Vegan, Paleo, Refined Sugar-Free)
• Matcha Rose Latte (Dairy-Free, Refined Sugar-Free)
• Coconut Matche Latte (Vegan, Dairy-Free)