The one method
Sift the matcha once per shift into a shaker jar so the bar never sifts per cup. For each drink: 4 g of matcha into a bowl or shaker, 40 ml of boiled water cooled to about 80 °C, whisk or shake until there are no lumps and a fine foam forms, about 15 seconds. That is the shot. Everything else is what you pour it into. Water above 85 °C makes the shot bitter; water under 70 °C leaves lumps. If your bar has a hot-water tap at 95 °C, a splash of cold in the jug gets you to 80.
Four grams is deliberately generous. It gives a latte that still tastes like matcha through 180 ml of milk and holds its colour, and it keeps the recipe the same for hot, iced and flavoured drinks so nothing depends on which barista is on.
Which matcha for which drink
| Drink | Grade that works | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hot latte | Café grade, shaded second harvest | Megumi, $185 / kg | Body and a classic flavour that carries milk |
| Iced latte | Café grade with strong colour hold | Minami, $160 / kg | Stays green over ice for the length of a sit-down |
| Mango or strawberry | Café or culinary grade | Tsuyu, $180 / kg | Naturally sweet Asatsuyu cultivar pairs with fruit |
| Oat latte | Café grade with umami | Megumi or Wa, $275 / kg | Umami balances oat's sweetness; Wa for halal cafés |
| Signature usucha or straight shot | Ceremonial, first harvest | Sae or Hikari | Aroma and sweetness you taste without milk |
Most cafés run two: a café grade for the four milk drinks and a ceremonial for the drinks that go on the board by name. The grades page explains how we draw the lines, and first versus second harvest explains why second harvest is the right latte leaf.
Hot matcha latte
- Make the shot: 4 g matcha, 40 ml water at 80 °C, whisk or shake smooth.
- Steam 180 ml of milk to 60 to 65 °C with a fine microfoam, as for a flat white. Hotter milk dulls the matcha.
- Pour the shot into the cup, then the milk. Pouring matcha into milk rather than milk into matcha keeps the foam on top for latte art.
- Sweetener, if any, goes into the shot before the milk: 10 ml of simple syrup is plenty.
Serve in a 300 ml cup. The green should be bright, not olive; if it is olive, the water was too hot or the matcha is old. Megumi gives the classic Yame flavour with enough body for whole milk; Minami is the brighter, lighter cup.
Iced matcha latte
- Fill a 400 ml cup with ice to the top.
- Pour 180 ml of cold milk over the ice.
- Make the shot as above and pour it slowly over the milk, down the side of the cup, for the two-layer look. Serve with a straw or stir at the table.
- Syrup, if used, goes into the milk first so the layers stay clean.
Colour hold matters most here: an iced latte sits on a table for twenty minutes in daylight. Minami was chosen for this drink because it stays green through that; our note on why iced lattes turn brown explains the chemistry and the five fixes.
Mango and strawberry matcha
Fruit drinks are the best-selling matcha drinks in Southeast Asia, Australia and increasingly London, and they are forgiving of grade because the fruit carries the sweetness. Keep the matcha at 4 g so the green layer is distinct.
- Mango matcha latte (iced). 60 g of mango purée in the bottom of a 450 ml cup, ice to the top, 150 ml milk, then the 4 g shot poured over. Three layers: yellow, white, green. Oat or coconut milk both work; the mango coconut oat version is the one Time Out Tokyo wrote up at our Tokyo pop-up.
- Strawberry matcha latte (iced). 50 g of strawberry purée or compote, ice, 150 ml milk, the shot on top. Add a pinch of salt to the purée; it sharpens both the fruit and the matcha.
- Hot version. Warm the purée with the milk, pour the shot in last. Works for strawberry; mango is better cold.
Tsuyu is the lot for these. The Asatsuyu cultivar is naturally low in astringency and reads sweet, so the drink needs less syrup, and at $180 per kg it is priced for a volume drink.
Oat matcha latte
Oat milk is now the default non-dairy in most Western cafés and the one that most often goes wrong with matcha: some oat milks have enough sugar and a grey tone that flattens the green, and barista oat milks with added oil can split when they meet a hot shot. The fixes are a grade with real umami, so the drink tastes of tea rather than cereal, and a lower milk temperature, 55 to 60 °C.
- Make the 4 g shot.
- Steam 180 ml of barista oat milk to 55 to 60 °C, less air than for dairy.
- Shot first, milk second, as for dairy. No syrup by default; most oat milks are already sweet.
Megumi's body stands up to oat; for halal cafés, Wa does the same from the certified line. If your oat latte looks grey rather than green, the problem is the oat milk's colour, not the matcha; a brighter lot such as Minami is the quickest fix.
Cost per cup and the two mistakes
At 4 g the matcha costs $0.64 per cup with Minami ($160 per kg), $0.72 with Tsuyu, $0.74 with Megumi and $1.10 with Wa, FOB Osaka, before freight. Milk is $0.30 to $0.60 of the cup, fruit purée $0.40 to $0.60, and the two minutes of labour is the largest line of all. The latte pricing guide works it through to a menu price.
To set the menu, request three samples and make these five drinks with each. The one that still looks green at the end of the shift is your café grade.
Questions buyers ask
How much matcha goes in a café latte?
We use 4 g of matcha dissolved in 40 ml of water at 80 °C, then 180 ml of milk, for every latte, hot or iced. One method keeps strength, colour and cost the same across baristas.
What temperature should the water be for a matcha latte?
About 80 °C. Above 85 °C the shot turns bitter and the colour dulls; below 70 °C the matcha does not dissolve cleanly.
Which matcha grade is best for lattes?
A shaded second-harvest café grade such as Megumi or Minami. It has the body and colour hold a milk drink needs at $160 to $185 per kg. Keep first-harvest ceremonial for usucha and signature drinks.
Why does my iced matcha latte go brown?
Heat and oxidation. Keep the shot water at 80 °C, use a lot with strong colour hold such as Minami, and use open bags within four to six weeks.
