My Perfect Vegan Matcha Latte

After many different trials, I’ve finally found my perfect matcha latte recipe. It’s simple, easy, and accidentally vegan! If you love iced matcha lattes, take this as a starting point and adjust the ratios to your liking.

What is a Matcha Latte (and is there Coffee in it?)

A matcha latte is a drink that consists of matcha dissolved in hot water, sweetened, and mixed with milk. It can be hot or cold, and it can use any kind of milk.

In case you’re new to Japanese ingredients, matcha is a powder made from ground green tea. It is sometimes referred to as “matcha green tea,” for that reason, but it is considered a completely different ingredient than standard green tea leaves that you would brew a hot cup of tea with. Matcha has a much stronger green tea flavor, and you use it by dissolving it in hot water. You can also add it to baked goods or ice cream! I feel like recently, matcha has become more popular in America, especially sine you can order matcha lattes as pretty much any Starbucks.

Oh, and despite the “latte” in its name, there is no coffee in a matcha latte. In Asia, a drink labeled “latte” usually refers to any drink that has milk added to it, with or without coffee.

Do I Really Need to use High Quality Matcha?

When making a matcha latte, I absolutely recommend splurging on a high quality brand. Quality impacts the color, taste, texture, and nutritional benefits of matcha. In a matcha latte, the matcha flavor and texture are front and center, so using low quality matcha will make a huge impact on the taste, texture, and appearance of your drink.

However, high quality matcha is EXPENSIVE. So I also keep a bag of lower quality matcha in my pantry for baked goods. With baked goods, like matcha butter mochi, the texture of the matcha doesn’t really matter, and there are often many other competing flavors. Of course, high quality matcha would make it EVEN better, but when I’m using up to 1/4 cup of matcha per batch… I mean, I can hear my wallet crying even now.

Why is High Quality Matcha So Expensive?

Disclaimer: I’ve never actually been in person to see how matcha is farmed and ground. What I have learned from extensive googling, however, I will share with you. Apparently, to get the color, taste, and nutritional benefit of high quality matcha, only shade-grown, young leaves are harvested, with the stems and veins removed. Then, for that soft powdery matcha texture, you grind the leaves in a stone grinder. This website said it can take over an hour to grind 30g! All of these careful growing, harvesting, and milling techniques result in high production costs.

What’s the Difference Between High and Low Quality Matcha?

So what makes low quality matcha so cheap, and what’s the effect? Low quality matcha may be made from older leaves that may not have had their stems or veins removed. Lower quality matcha may also be more oxidized. This results in the more brown color and more bitter/grassy flavor. Some companies may also cut costs by using industrial grinders instead of stone. That may be why you notice a sandier texture of low quality matcha compared to the soft powdery texture of high quality.

So to recap: high quality matcha will be bright green in color, have a sweeter and less bitter flavor, and fine powdery texture. Low quality matcha may look more brown, be bitter, and have a sandy texture. Take a look at my Instagram Reel below for a visual comparison.

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What are High Quality Brands of Matcha?

When looking for high quality matcha for drinking, look for ceremonial grade. I personally enjoy Matcha Bloom’s purity powder, which you can buy online. I also have liked Matcha Love’s ceremonial matcha powder, which I can find in store at my local Japanese market. Matcha Love is owned by Ito En, which is a very well known tea company in Japan. If you live in California or Hawaii, some Mitsuwa Marketplace’s have a Matcha Love cafe in their food courts. Note: Matcha Love also has a culinary powder, which is purposefully made for cooking.

I have it on good authority from my matcha-loving friend Erin that Maeda-en also has a very good quality of ceremonial matcha. My personal favorite is Ippodo Tea.

If you don’t have a Japanese market near you, I’ve included all the links to to Amazon in the above paragraphs. These are affiliate links, so I do make a small commission on any purchases you make… which… will in turn help me purchase more expensive matcha. Help a girl out, okay?

Edit 9/22/22: I have recently been taste testing a lot of matchas, so I edited this section to include my favorites.

Are Matcha Lattes Vegan?

My favorite add-ins to my matcha latte are soy milk and maple syrup, making my matcha latte accidentally vegan. It wasn’t on purpose; I just really like soy milk and I prefer using maple syrup over other sweeteners. If you are not vegan, feel free to mix it up and use regular dairy milk and/or honey. You can, of course, use regular granulated sugar to sweeten as well, but I don’t like any undissolved sugar crystals ruining my smooth matcha texture.

More Matcha Recipes

If you love matcha and want to make more matcha flavored treats, check out my other matcha recipes:

• Matcha Butter Mochi
• Matcha Mochi Waffles
• Matcha Butter Cake
• Matcha Shortbread Cookies

Do you have a favorite matcha brand or matcha treat? Let me know! Happy matcha making!