Matcha Tea comes in many varieties and qualities and creates delicious recipes, including this Trader Joe’s Matcha Latte. Made with a hint of cinnamon and vanilla using one Trader Joe’s Matcha Green Tea packet. One packet whisked into water at 175 degrees, then topped with warm almond milk and foam, gives you a coffeehouse latte for about a dollar fifty.
Matcha is powdered green tea. It is rich in antioxidants, is known to promote alertness without the added effect of jitters, and delivers in the taste department. Now, this coveted tea has been added to the selection of Trader Joe’s matcha products, including their green tea matcha that is sweetened and comes in a can.
If you’re on the go like many of us, you have found a treasure in these individual packets. Just add a packet to hot water, stir, and you’ve got yourself an energizing drink to carry you through the day. For warmer days, add ice and a drop of your favorite sweetener.
Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 5 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: None, just hot water
- ⏳ Total Time: 5 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 1 latte
- ⚡ Cost: About $1.50 a cup, against a coffeehouse price
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Grassy green tea softened by warm almond milk, with cinnamon and honey on top
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, the water temperature is the only thing to get right
Quick Answer
Heat half a cup of water to 175 degrees F, or 80 degrees C. Add one packet of Trader Joe’s Matcha Green Tea powder and whisk it in with a matcha whisk or a frother until there are no lumps. Add the vanilla extract, honey or stevia if you want it sweetened. Add half a cup of warmed almond milk, use the frother again to combine it and create some foam, and sprinkle cinnamon on top.
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Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- 175 degrees, not boiling. The best temperature for matcha is 175 F and 80 C. Boiling water scorches the powder and turns it bitter, and there is no way to take that back.
- Matcha never fully dissolves. Matcha powder doesn’t truly 100 percent dissolve in water like sugar or milk powder does. It is because matcha powder is actually tiny bits of tea leaf, ground into powder form. Whisking suspends it rather than dissolving it, and you get the best flavor once it is fully suspended.
- Whisk the powder into water first, milk second. Milk coats the particles and stops them separating, so powder added straight to milk stays lumpy no matter how long you whisk.
- The easy way to hit 175. Boil your filtered water and pour whatever amount you think you will use, about 8 ounces, into a small pitcher or cup. Then pour that water into a second cup, and the water temp should be somewhere around perfect. You can also use a thermometer.
- This is culinary grade. Based on the cost, this matcha is most likely culinary grade. Culinary grade comes from the second harvest, called Nibancha, of the green tea leaves, harvested between June and July. You will notice less chlorophyll, so less of the bright green hue, in the second harvest.
- Cinnamon is not just decoration. It sits on the foam and gives the first sip something warm before the grassy note of the tea arrives.
- Warm the milk before it goes in. Cold milk drops the whole drink below drinking temperature and kills the foam.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It is about $1.50 a cup. Roughly $10.00 per box of 7 packets. That is a big saving over your favorite coffeehouse.
- Five minutes, start to finish. Hot water, a whisk and a packet.
- Alertness without the jitters. Matcha is rich in antioxidants and is known to promote alertness without the added effect of jitters.
- The packets travel. If you’re on the go, individual packets mean you can make this at the office or in a hotel room.
- It works iced too. For warmer days, add ice and a drop of your favorite sweetener.
- You control the sweetness. Honey, vanilla extract or stevia, or none of them.
Key Ingredients
Three things you need and four that are optional, plus two tools that make it easier. Quantities are in the recipe card below.
- Matcha Powder. One packet per latte. The Matcha Latte Boxes come with 7 individual packets, so you can make 7 drinks with the recipe below.
- Water. Hot, 175 to 180 degrees. This is the one measurement that changes how the drink tastes.
- Almond Milk, warmed. Any milk works, dairy or not, but it needs to be warm.
- cinnamon. Half a teaspoon, optional, sprinkled on the foam.
- Vanilla Extract. Optional, and homemade is so much better.
- Honey or Stevia (Optional. Optional, for a sweeter matcha.
- A Matcha Whisk or a Frother. Either one works, and a handheld Frother is the quicker of the two. My notes on picking a matcha whisk go into the difference.
- A Pretty Clear Mug to serve it in, and a temperature control tea kettle if you want to hit the temperature without guessing.
See the recipe card below for exact quantities and full instructions.
Variations & Substitutions
One packet is a starting point, not a rule.
- Make it iced. For warmer days, add ice and a drop of your favorite sweetener instead of the warm milk.
- Change the milk. Oat, almond, soy or dairy. Oat milk foams the best, which is why I gave it its own recipe.
- Sweeten it differently. Add either vanilla extract, honey or stevia for a sweeter matcha.
- Skip the cinnamon if you want the tea flavor clean.
- Use loose matcha instead of packets. A teaspoon of loose powder is about one packet, and the canned sweetened version is a different drink again.
- Try another green. My iced blueberry matcha latte, hibiscus green tea spritzer and butterfly pea latte all start the same way.
How to Make a Trader Joe’s Matcha Latte
- Heat half a cup of water to 175 degrees F, or 80 degrees C, using a tea kettle and thermometer or a temperature control kettle.
- Add 1 packet of Trader Joe’s Matcha Green Tea powder to the hot water.
- Using a matcha whisk or a frother, whisk the powder into the water until it is fully blended with no lumps.
- Add the vanilla extract and your optional sweetener, the honey or the stevia, if you want it.
- Add the warm milk. Use the frother again to get it combined and create some foam, then sprinkle the cinnamon on top.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Blend the matcha completely so there are no lumps. This is the difference between a good cup and a gritty one.
- Add vanilla extract, honey or stevia for a sweeter matcha.
- Hit 175 without a thermometer. Boil your water, pour it into a small pitcher, then pour it into a second cup. The temperature lands about right.
- Warm the milk separately before it goes in, or the drink cools off before you finish frothing.
- Whisk in a W motion, not a circle, if you are using a bamboo whisk. It breaks up clumps far faster.
- Store the packets somewhere dark. Matcha loses color and flavor in light, the same as loose leaf tea.
Serving Ideas & Suggestions
Serve it hot in a clear glass mug so you can see the layers, with something small on the side. It works with scones in the morning, and with my matcha chocolate chip cookies if you want matcha twice. My afternoon tea post and my tea party checklist cover building a whole tea around it, and there are more ideas in tea party desserts.
If you are working through the tea shelf, my iced blueberry matcha latte, oat milk matcha latte, hibiscus green tea spritzer, butterfly pea latte, iced chai latte with pumpkin cold foam and Starbucks caramel brulee latte are all here too. For the background, there is what is herbal tea, Lady Grey versus Earl Grey, how to store loose leaf tea and does brewed tea go bad.
Trader Joe’s Matcha FAQs
The matcha latte boxes come with 7 individual packets, so you can make 7 drinks with this recipe.
It is approximately $10.00 per box of 7 packets. You can probably make your matcha tea for about $1.50 a cup. That is a big saving over your favorite coffeehouse.
The best temperature for matcha is 175 F and 80 C. An easy way to get to 175 quickly is to boil your filtered water and pour whatever amount you think you’ll use, about 8 ounces, into a small pitcher or cup. Then pour that water into a second cup, and the water temp should be somewhere around perfect. You can also use a thermometer to check.
Matcha powder can be blended in two ways. One is the matcha whisk with the heated water in a bowl until dissolved. The second is with a frother. Matcha powder doesn’t truly dissolve in water like sugar does, because matcha powder is actually tiny bits of tea leaf ground into powder form. You will get the best flavor once it is blended smooth.
This matcha is most likely culinary grade based on the cost. Culinary grade matcha comes from the second harvest, called Nibancha, of the green tea leaves, which are harvested between June and July. You will notice less chlorophyll, and so less green hue, in the second harvest.
Yes. Whisk the packet into the hot water the same way so it blends properly, then pour it over ice and add cold milk and a drop of your favorite sweetener.
Trader Joe’s Matcha Latte Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Packet of Trader Joes Matcha Green Tea
- 1/2 Cup Hot Water 175-180 degrees
- 1/2 Cup Almond Milk Warmed
- 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon Optional
- 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract Optional
- 1/2 Teaspoon Honey Optional
Instructions
- Heat 1/2 cup of water to 175 degrees F or 80 degrees C
- Add 1 packet of Trader Joe’s Matcha Tea
- Using a Matcha Whisk or a Frother whisk the powder into the water
- Add the Stevia, Honey or Vanilla Extract
- Add the Warm Milk. Use the Frother again to get it combined and create some foam. Sprinkle the Cinnamon on Top.
