Winter Spice Matcha
When the weather turns, cold drinks get harder to sell.
Winter spiced matcha latte is our answer to that.
Matcha brings the fresh, vegetal character that makes a good matcha latte. Cinnamon, ginger and a little cardamom bring warmth. Honey pulls everything together.
It tastes like winter without tasting like a candle.
Here is how we make ours.
Winter Spiced Matcha Latte Recipe
Makes one drink
Matcha: 3g Jeeves & Jericho Ceremonial Grade Matcha
Water: 30ml
Milk: 200ml
Spiced honey: 15g
Ingredients
3g Jeeves & Jericho Ceremonial Grade Matcha
30ml hot water, around 80°C
200ml milk of your choice
15g runny honey
Ground cinnamon and ginger, plus a small pinch of ground cardamom
Make the spiced honey
Stir a small pinch of cinnamon, ginger and cardamom into the honey.
Start light. You can always add more, but you cannot take it back out.
Leave it for a minute while you make the matcha. The warm honey wakes the spices up.
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 the matcha is smooth and a light foam appears across the surface.
No bamboo whisk? A handheld electric frother will also do the job.
Put it together
Stir the spiced honey through the hot matcha.
Steam 200ml of milk and pour it over.
Give it a gentle stir and finish with a dusting of cinnamon.
It also works over ice with cold milk on a milder day. One recipe, two seasons. That is rather the point.
Why do matcha and spice work together?
Matcha has umami, vegetal freshness and a gentle bitterness.
Warm spice has sweetness, depth and a bit of perfume.
Honey sits between the two, softening the bitterness without hiding the tea.
The result is warmer and rounder than a classic matcha latte, but you should still be able to taste the matcha underneath.
That last bit matters.
A winter spiced matcha latte should taste like matcha with spice.
Not mulled milk that happens to be green.
Can I use the Japanese Matcha Latte Blend?
Yes, and this is where it earns its keep.
Our Japanese Matcha Latte Blend already contains coconut sugar and cinnamon, and is designed around a baseline of 8.25g of blend with 30ml of water.
So do not swap 3g of Ceremonial Grade Matcha for 3g of the blend. Use the 8.25g baseline, skip the cinnamon in the honey and adjust the honey to taste.
Same drink, less work at a busy bar. Different character to the pure ceremonial version, but a very easy winter special.
Make it café ready
Winter spiced matcha latte is one of the easiest matcha drinks to run on a menu.
Make the spiced honey in batches. It keeps for weeks in a squeeze bottle.
Then each drink becomes simple.
Matcha.
Spiced honey.
Steamed milk.
Cinnamon on top.
Serve.
It slots neatly next to the chai on a winter menu and gives matcha drinkers something seasonal without a new technique to learn.
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 spiced honey is made, things can get interesting.
Add a strip of orange zest to the honey for something brighter.
Try oat milk for a slightly sweeter, rounder drink.
Dust the top with nutmeg instead of cinnamon if you want people to ask questions.
Or keep it simple.
Matcha. Honey. Spice. Milk.
Four things that were clearly waiting to meet.
And yes, it is acceptable to hold the cup with both hands. It is winter.