Iced Matcha Latte

An iced matcha latte is not a hot one poured over ice. Do it that way and the ice melts into the drink while you are still whisking, and you end up with something watery and pale.

Build it cold, in layers, and it holds.

What you need

• 3–5 g matcha, sifted
• 40 ml water at 70–80°C
• 150 ml cold milk
• Ice, and a tall glass

HANATABA is the one we use with milk. HATSUKOI is gentler and works well if you like it lighter.

KISEKI also works here, which is not the obvious choice. It is a single cultivar meant to be drunk on its own, and putting it under ice and milk sounds like a waste of it. But cold blunts flavour, and a tea with more to say comes through where a gentle one fades. If you have a tin open, it is worth one glass to find out.

Method

1. Sift the matcha and make a paste with the 40 ml of warm water, exactly as you would for a hot latte. Whisk until smooth.
2. Let the paste cool for a minute. This is the step people skip. Warm paste hitting ice melts it immediately and dilutes everything.
3. Fill the glass with ice — properly full, not three cubes. A half-empty glass of ice melts faster than a full one.
4. Pour the cold milk over the ice, leaving a couple of centimetres at the top.
5. Pour the matcha paste over the milk last. It will sit in a layer and sink slowly, which is the whole point of doing it in this order. Stir before you drink, or don't.

Notes

On water. Forty millilitres rather than thirty, because the drink is longer and a thicker paste will not disperse through cold milk properly.

On ice. If you make these often, freeze milk into cubes and use those instead. The drink does not weaken as it melts.

On strength. Cold blunts flavour, which is why this starts at 3 g rather than the 2 g we use hot. Work up from there — 5 g makes it properly strong. If it still tastes thin, take the milk down to 120 ml before you go higher.