Honey Banana Matcha
Some matcha drinks are all about the layering.
This one is all about the blender.
Banana and honey matcha is thick, creamy and naturally sweet, with the fresh, vegetal character of matcha running underneath it.
It sounds unusual. It tastes obvious.
There is a reason banana and honey is a combination nobody has ever complained about.
Here is how we make ours.
Banana & Honey Matcha Recipe
Makes one drink
Matcha: 3g Jeeves & Jericho Ceremonial Grade Matcha
Water: 30ml
Milk: 150ml
Banana: 1 medium, ripe
Honey: 10g
Ingredients
3g Jeeves & Jericho Ceremonial Grade Matcha
30ml hot water
1 ripe banana
10g runny honey
150ml cold milk of your choice
A handful of ice, if you want it cold
Make the matcha
Sift 3g of Ceremonial Grade Matcha into a bowl.
Add 30ml of hot water. Hot, but not boiling.
Whisk briskly in a quick zigzag motion until smooth, with a light foam on the surface.
No bamboo whisk? A handheld electric frother will do the job.
The important thing is a smooth matcha base before it goes anywhere near the blender.
Blend it
Add the banana, honey, milk and matcha to a blender.
Add ice if you are making it cold.
Blend until completely smooth.
Taste it before it goes in the glass. Bananas vary enormously through the year, so a riper fruit may need less honey and a firmer one a little more.
Adjust now. Not after it has been photographed.
Put it together
Pour into a tall glass.
That is it. There is no layering, no technique and no dramatic pause.
The payoff of a blended drink is that the work happens before the customer arrives.
Why do banana and matcha work together?
Banana brings body, sweetness and a soft, creamy texture.
Honey brings a cleaner sweetness that rounds off the gentle bitterness in the matcha.
Matcha brings umami and vegetal freshness, which stops the whole thing tasting like a milkshake.
The result is sweeter and thicker than a classic matcha latte, but you should still be able to taste the tea.
That last bit matters.
Banana and honey matcha should taste like banana, honey and matcha.
Not a banana smoothie that happens to be green.
Fresh or frozen banana?
Fresh is easier. Frozen is better.
Frozen banana makes the drink colder and thicker without watering it down with ice, which is exactly what you want on a café menu.
Slice ripe bananas and freeze them in portions. They will wait patiently for weeks.
If you only have fresh banana, add the ice and accept a slightly looser drink. It is still very good.
Which milk works best?
Whatever milk you enjoy drinking.
Whole milk makes it rich and creamy.
Oat milk works particularly well, adding a little extra sweetness that suits the honey.
Coconut milk takes it somewhere more tropical.
The only real test is whether you can still taste the matcha once everything is blended together.
If you cannot, use less banana before you reach for more matcha.
Make it café ready
Banana and honey matcha is a blender drink, which some cafés treat as a problem.
It is actually the appeal.
Portion the banana and honey ahead of service. Keep matcha whisked or use a pre-mixed base.
Then each drink is one blender cycle. About sixty seconds, start to finish.
Quick enough for a busy bar, thick enough to feel like a proper drink, and naturally free of syrups and added sugar, which more and more customers quietly appreciate.
If you are a café and this sounds like your kind of menu, our matcha is made for the bar. See the full matcha range for cafés, or open a trade account to get started.
Make it your own
Once the base is sorted, things can get interesting.
Add cinnamon for a warmer version.
Swap the honey for peanut butter and it becomes a very different, very good drink.
Top it with granola and serve it in a bowl. Breakfast, solved.
Or keep it simple.
Banana. Honey. Milk. Matcha.
Four ingredients, one blender, no arguments.
And yes, it counts as one of your five a day. We checked. We did not check very hard.