How to make a matcha latte, hot or iced

• 3g of matcha, about one heaped teaspoon or three scoops of a bamboo chashaku
• 48ml of water at 80°C
• 150 to 200ml of milk, dairy or plant
• A bamboo whisk (chasen), or a milk frother
• A fine sifter and a bowl or wide cup

1. Sift. Sift 3g of matcha into a warm bowl to break up clumps. Matcha is so fine that it clumps with any moisture, and clumps will not whisk out.
2. Add water. Pour 48ml of hot water at 80°C. Boiling water scorches matcha and brings out bitterness, so let a boiled kettle stand for a few minutes.
3. Whisk. Whisk in a W or M motion for 20 to 30 seconds until frothy, keeping the whisk off the bottom of the bowl. Use your wrist, not your arm.
4. Add milk. Add 150 to 200ml of warm milk to taste. Steam or froth it first if you like a café-style top.

1. Sift and whisk 3g of matcha with 48ml of water at 80°C, exactly as above.
2. Fill a glass with ice and pour in 150 to 200ml of cold milk.
3. Pour the whisked matcha over the top for the layered look, then stir before drinking.

Do not try to whisk matcha straight into cold milk. It will not dissolve properly and you will get green specks at the bottom of the glass.

Whole dairy milk gives the creamiest result. Of the plant milks, oat is the most popular because it is naturally a little sweet and froths well. Soy is the most neutral. Almond and coconut are thinner and more distinctive, which can suit iced lattes. Barista versions of plant milks froth far better than standard cartons.

A matcha with enough body to hold its flavour through milk. Shōgun is our bolder, nuttier matcha and the one we recommend for lattes. Hikari is smoother and sweeter, and at its best with water alone, though plenty of people drink it in lattes too.

Good first harvest matcha is naturally sweet, so try it unsweetened first. If you do sweeten it, stir a little honey or maple syrup into the whisked matcha before adding milk, so it dissolves evenly.

• Water too hot. Keep it at about 80°C.
• Too much matcha for the milk. Stay at 3g for 150 to 200ml.
• Old matcha. Matcha fades after milling and gets flatter and more bitter. See why matcha fades.
• Low grade matcha. Later harvest leaves are more astringent. See what ceremonial grade actually means.