Oat Milk Matcha Latte

Forget expensive coffee shop lattes, here's how to make an Oat Milk Matcha Latte at home! You don't need any fancy equipment, just matcha, something to sweeten it with, and oat milk or the milk of your choice.

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I looooooove matcha lattes. The strong grassy, flavour is a perfect mid-day pick-me-up, and matcha is LOADED with health benefits.

If you go out, matcha lattes are expensive! But I've got good news for all you matcha lovers - making an Oat Milk Matcha Latte at home is super simple! 

If you're looking for another sort of superfood loaded drink, be sure to check out our Turmeric Latte Mix or learn how to make an adaptogenic Maca Latte. We've also got a delicious Pumpkin Chai Latte recipe if you're looking for something a little more mainstream, and an Iced London Fog Tea Latte if you need to cool off. 

What is matcha?

Matcha is straight, stoneground green tea leaves. It has a wonderful, grassy flavor, and is traditionally served mixed with hot water, and plays an important role in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. 

Because matcha is fully consumed (as opposed to discarding the leaves) it provides you with green tea’s full arsenal of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. To even begin to match the potency found in a single serving of matcha, you would need to drink at least ten cups of brewed green tea. Ten!

Matcha comes in different grades. At the top is high-quality ceremonial grade matcha, which is the brightest green, finest matcha powder made from young green tea leaves. Ceremonial grade is also the most expensive.

Culinary grade matcha is a lower quality, and therefore less expensive, but still has great flavour and all of the same antioxidant benefits, and is great for smoothies or cooking with, like this Mango Matcha Green Tea Smoothie. 

What do I need to make a matcha latte?

The ingredients list is short and sweet my friends, here's what you'll need:

• Matcha powder --> I prefer ceremonial grade for this recipe.
• Oat milk --> Or another dairy-free milk of your choice, like almond milk or coconut milk.
• Honey --> Or another liquid sweetener (like agave syrup perhaps?)

Equipment:

You're going to want a nice, wide, deep, mug that you can whisk in, or a bowl if you're hip like that.

And, you're going to need some sort of whisking apparatus. I have a proper bamboo matcha whisk, but I've used all sorts of things before with varying degrees of success.

If you don't have a matcha whisk you could try:

• One of those electronic milk frother thingies - those are great for whisking the matcha into the water AND for foaming your milk, so lots of bang for your buck.
• A French press - you can plunge it up and down until the matcha has dissolved into the water, and then keep plunging once the milk is added for super foamy milk.
• A blender - yep, a little blend on low speed in your Vitamix (or whatever blender you have) will definitely do the trick.
• A fork. Yes, a fork. Here's my trick: BEFORE you add any water, use the fork to mash the matcha and honey together into a green paste and THEN add the water. This emulsification with the honey helps create a better suspension when the water gets added and you won't end up with grainy matcha at the bottom of your mug.

How to make a homemade matcha latte:

Now that you've got your stuff organized, it's time to make your oat milk matcha latte!

First things first, put the kettle on. Here's something super important to know about making matcha, or any green tea for that matter: don't use boiling water.

If you were making black tea, boil the kettle until the whistle blows, and then use the water right away. Green tea, on the other hand, is more delicate and using water that's too hot causes the tea to taste bitter. Ideally, water for matcha lattes should be between 160°F-170°F (70°C-80°C).

If you have one of those fancy kettles where you can set the temperature, then lucky you. If not, my green tea water hack is to boil the kettle, and then let it sit for a FULL FIVE MINUTES before you use the water. Trust me on this one.

While the water is boiling / cooling, you can heat up your milk. I use the microwave for that but you can totally go stove top as well. You don't want to boil the milk, but it should be pleasantly hot.

Put a little bit of matcha in the bottom of your mug. You'll need to experiment to figure out how much matcha is right for you. I recommend starting with ½ a teaspoon and working up from there. I like a scant 1 teaspoon myself, but I wouldn't go much over that.

Keep in mind that with matcha you're not straining the tea out, you are consuming the whole leaf which has been ground into a fine powder, so don't be using regular tea leaf quantities.

Add around ¼ cup of your boiled-and-cooled water to the mug, and whisk! Whisk until the water is green and foamy and the matcha is in suspension. I like to add my honey (or other sweetener) now, and whisk again.

Pour your warmed milk into the mug, and give the whole thing one last stir with the whisk to make sure everything is well mixed. Now, cozy up into a comfy chair, preferably while wearing leggings and a chunky knit sweater, and sip on your delicious homemade matcha latte. Ahhhhh, isn't that nice?

Benefits of matcha

Matcha is straight stone ground green tea leaves. It’s packed with antioxidants, including L-theanine, which is known to have a relaxing and calming effect on both body and mind.

Matcha is naturally high in caffeine, but the relaxing effect of theanine counters this, helping you avoid the jitters all the while increasing serotonin, dopamine, and glycine levels in the brain. That is to say, matcha makes you feel good, helps with concentration, and is just generally amazing stuff!

In addition to all those antioxidants, matcha is also rich in vitamin C, selenium, chromium, zinc, and magnesium. Since you're not straining the leaves out when you drink matcha, it's much more nutrient dense than standard green tea. Bottoms up!

Other Recipes you might enjoy:

Matcha Shortbread Cookies
Chocolate Black Bean Brownie Smoothie
Mango Matcha Green Tea Smoothie
Turmeric Latte Mix
How to Make a Maca Latte

This post was first published October 11, 2017. It was edited, updated, and re-published on October 14, 2021.