Taro Matcha Latte
JUMP TO:
Intro
You know what’s always bugged me about matcha becoming trendy? Non-Asian people asking me if I’d ever heard of or tried matcha...as if they discovered it. I know they probably don’t mean to be offensive but this type of incident is getting old...anyways I don’t want to go down that rabbit hole here because this recipe doesn’t deserve so much negativity.
There are two ingredients in this recipe that might need some intro and discussion:
“Taro powder” I LOVE taro but also hate that most taro powders available to me are 100% artificial. Ideally, I’d use a taro powder that was basically just the freeze-dried root that’s been ground into a fine powder OR canned whole chunks of taro. What I am able to get is just artificial taro flavoring and those products always come with some kind of milk powder in them...I don’t know why. I don’t have a “favorite” since I am generally just unhappy about what I am able to buy...but my advice would be to look for the taro powder with the fewest artificial ingredients and the ones that are the least garishly purple. I picked up whatever taro powder I could find at my local Asian grocery store.
Real taro is a white root with some light purple fibers so taro drinks made with the real deal should almost be white...not Barney purple. The reason I use so little taro powder in this recipe is because I just want a little of that taro taste (before I start to notice super artificial flavors) but if you’re able to get your hands on more natural taro powder, I’d use at least 2 - 3 x’s more than this recipe calls for. You should also not confuse taro with anything called “Japanese purple sweet potato” or “ube” because those are not the same thing — those are made with something that’s closer to a regular sweet potato and those flavors are completely different.
“Maqui berry powder” Maqui berries are a Patagonian berry that are very high in antioxidants, similar to açaí berries. They’re a beautiful deep purple and have a super mild flavor I’d compare to a tart blackberry. This is not a vegan/health blog so I won’t get into it too much, but I do like how adding this berry powder adds a mild berry tartness to recipes. I buy the Navitas brand because it’s easily available and I trust the producer; I’m sure there are better brands out there but this is the one I’ve settled on for now! If you can’t find this ingredient you can forgo it altogether or replace it with a couple TBSP of fresh or frozen açaí berries.
What You'll Need
Enough for 2 drinks:
2 tsp matcha powder
¼ cup water
1½ tsp taro powder
3 tsp maqui berry powder
2 tsp honey (optional if you don’t like sweet drinks)
1 cup oat milk (for shaking) + 1 more cup for layering*
Recommended specialty equipment: matcha whisk, cocktail shaker, two 2-cup Ball Mason jars
* I used oat milk but you can use any non-dairy or dairy milk
Instructions
Set your ¼ cup of water to boil but turn off the heat just before it comes to a full boil #; add to your matcha powder and mix well, using a matcha whisk if you have one; set aside
In a mixing glass (or cocktail shaker if you have), add the taro powder, maqui berry powder, honey, and the 1st cup of oat milk; shake or mix together well
Add ice into the mixing glass/shaker and mix/shake again
Strain this mixture into your glasses, add 1 cup of fresh ice per drink, add another ½ cup of oat milk per drink (this creates the layering effect), and evenly divide the matcha between your 2 glasses as your last “layer”
# Or you risk your matcha burning/becoming too bitter; it’s ok if it ends up coming to a full boil just let it cool off for ~ 5 min
Did you make this? Submit your picture for a chance to be featured!
(Click IG icon to DM or Contact icon to email your picture)
