Easy Matcha Latte Recipe

Sure, a great warm and delicious café-style drink that's a comfort to sip and that comes with enough caffeine to give you a perk to hit the morning running or keep on keeping on through the afternoon is great, but who has time to make one? Thus, we hurry on by the coffee shop on our way to work or between errands and shell out a handful of hard-earned dollars for that cup of tasty pick-me-up.

Or how about this as a better idea: Instead, we follow the steps laid out below by chef and recipe developer Susan Olayinka of The Flexible Fridge and make our own lovely "energy booster" latte at home in less than five minutes. With just a few basic ingredients (and some matcha powder, which you may or may not consider a basic ingredient depending on your culinary preferences), you can prepare cup after cup of this easy matcha latte that will taste every bit as good as a drink you get at the coffee shop yet will cost you a few nickels and dimes per serving, not all those dollars.

So let's gather our ingredients, get the milk and water heating, and get right to it.

Thought we were joking about how easy this one is? Nope, no joke. In fact, all you need for a two-serving batch of this café quality latte is a teaspoon and a half of matcha powder, a tablespoon and a half of honey, half a cup of hot water (as in quite hot, but not near the boiling point), and three cups of milk.

No honey handy? No problem, you can use maple syrup or even agave syrup. And to make the matcha latte dairy-free, most non-dairy milks will work fine, Olayinka says, adding: "Oat milk is very creamy." Just look for one that is not flavored, or it will, of course, impact the taste of the finished drink.

Start off by heating the water, ideally to between 160 and 170 degrees Fahrenheit, if possible. You can use a food thermometer to check the temperature if heating the water on the stove. Just make sure the water isn't boiling — this could affect the taste of the matcha.

Now place the matcha powder and the hot water into a mixing bowl or a large mug, and then whisk them together until all of the matcha powder is mixed into the water and well blended, without clumps. Then stir the honey (or maple syrup) into this warm blend, and whisk it in well.

Pour the milk into a separate mixing bowl or a large, microwave-safe measuring cup, and then place the milk in the microwave for 30 seconds or a bit longer if needed to get it warm enough to be almost too hot to touch.

Once the milk has finished heating, use a hand immersion blender or immersion frother to froth up the milk, or you can use a pump activated frother as well.

Pour the honey-sweetened (and highly concentrated) matcha tea into two serving glasses, then top it up in each with the frothed milk. Then, serve the drinks immediately. You can add a dusting of cacao or cocoa powder (or vanilla powder or cinnamon of whatever sounds great) atop the frothed milk, but that may well be gilding the lily: This drink will be great as it is.

And in case you were wondering, when compared to coffee, matcha has less caffeine (as you may expect, being as matcha is sourced from the green tea plant), so don't worry — you can have two servings without getting the jitters.

One more idea? Olayinka says: "I love my matcha latte chilled — just let the drink cool and add some ice."