The popularity of matcha as an ingredient continues to grow. This finely ground powder, made from green-tea leaves is a good source of antioxidants; vitamin C, selenium, zinc and magnesium, as well as being rich in fiber.

Guest Contributor Catalin Zorzini is the founder of Ecommerce Platforms and Web App Meister. He blogs about matcha, Japanese lifestyle, and mindfulness at matcha-tea.com. He’s a design enthusiast and loves matcha, and is uber passionate about blockchain technology and travel. —Editor

An Acquired Taste

The healthy matcha may not be to everyone’s tastes, but milk can make matcha more palatable. There is a host of recipes out there that blend the refreshing and strengthening goodness of not just dairy milk, but also coconut milk, soy milk or any other milk variant with matcha.

Matcha has a vegetal but creamy taste and, based on the tea grade, can be quite astringent. And while dairy milk has been suspected to interfere with the body’s absorption of nutrients while consumed with matcha, nut milk has been found to not display any such interference.

Let’s start with a basic matcha milkshake recipe.

Plain Matcha Milkshake

You need a tablespoon of matcha, a tablespoon of sweeteners such as maple syrup, sugar or honey, and a cup of milk or coconut milk or any other milk version you can think of.

Blend all the ingredients with a handful of ice in a blender till the mixture gets smooth. If you fancy an ice cream, just add more ice, which will make it thicker. Then pour into a glass and, depending on the thickness, either sip it or use a straw.   

All other matcha milkshake techniques are variations of this basic technique, with new ingredients added.  

Matcha Green Tea milkshake

According to ice cream depot  the recipe on matcha green tea milkshake is something like this.  

Let’s check out the ingredients:

• Three tablespoons of matcha tea powder.
• Three tablespoons of honey.
• Three cups of milk.   

Here’s how to do it.

Add all the ingredients in a container.

Use a wire whisk to smoothen out the mixture.

Make sure that there are no lumps.

Pour it into a traditional milkshake glass and serve.

Matcha Milkshake with Mini Espresso Donuts

We found this recipe on the uniquely named We Are Not Martha website. Much of the recipe is the same as that above and indeed for any matcha milkshake. But here, you top it with a special kind of mini doughnuts. So let’s find out how to make these mini donuts first.

• These are baked espresso donuts. You need a cup of all-purpose flour, a tablespoon of espresso powder, a teaspoon of baking powder, and a teaspoon of salt. You also need half a cup of granulated sugar, one egg, and half a cup of milk. Don’t forget two tablespoons of melted butter and a tablespoon of vanilla extract paste. You can also get chocolate sprinkles.  
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Then, use cooking spray to spray the mini doughnut pan. Whisk the flour, baking powder, espresso powder, granulated sugar and salt in a big bowl. In another smaller bowl, whisk the egg with the milk, vanilla paste and melted butter. Then, stir the wet ingredients gently into the dry ingredients without over-mixing. Fill three-quarters of the doughnut pan niches with batter. Then bake this at 350 degrees for around 7 to 8 minutes till the donuts are springy and light. Allow them to cool in the pan for a few minutes and then remove them to the wire rack for complete cooling. After cooling, get the donuts dipped in vanilla sweet cream icing, and top them with chocolate sprinkles.   

Don’t Forget The Milkshake       

Those are the mini donuts ready. Now, let’s get back to the milkshake.

• Get 2 and a half cups of vanilla bean ice cream, one and a half cups of coconut milk or any other milk, and 3 teaspoons of matcha powder. And, you need the mini donuts too. Optional ingredients are whipped cream and sprinkles.
• Now, blend the milk, matcha powder and vanilla ice cream in a blender. Keep blending till it gets smooth. The optional sprinkles can help you rim your glasses. Brush the glasses with simple syrup or frosting. Pour the milkshake into the glasses and top them with whipped cream and the mini donuts. If you want, you can add more sprinkles.     

Matcha Breakfast Milkshake

According to matcha secrets a matcha milkshake recipe is something like this

The ingredients include.  

• Half a cup of plain yogurt.
• Two tablespoons of honey, sugar, or maple syrup.
• One tablespoon of matcha green tea powder.

Let’s see how it’s done.  

Add all the ingredients into a jar.

Blend all of them and make sure to remove any lumps.

Add ice for extra frothiness and thickness.

Pour it into a milkshake or a traditional sundae glass and serve.

Green Tea Almond Milk Milkshake

This recipe from Jeanine has the goodness and refreshing taste of almond milk added to the health benefits of matcha.

The ingredients include:

• One-fourth cup of almond milk.
• One teaspoon to one tablespoon of matcha tea powder.
• One-two scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Let’s see how it’s done.

Add the matcha tea powder and almond milk in a bowl and whisk it.

Keep whisking it till there are no lumps and your mixture is smooth.

Pour this mixture into a jar and add ice cream

Shake the jar and let it rest till the contents become soft.

Stir and pour the contents into a classic milkshake glass and serve.    

Mint Matcha Milkshake

For this milkshake you need

• Half a cup of any milk
• A frozen banana
• A cup of ice
• A quarter cup of fresh mint leaves
• A teaspoon of organic matcha powder
• Half a teaspoon of vanilla extract, and
• A quarter to half teaspoon of peppermint extract depending on your taste preference

Optional ingredients include a quarter cup of cashew butter or cashews just for the creaminess and half a cup of packed spinach for adding the color.   

All you need to do is blend all the ingredients into a high-speed blender. Blend till the mixture gets smooth for which you can adjust your ice or milk for the consistency you like. Top it with cacao nibs and whipped coconut cream once you’ve poured it in a glass.  

Pecan Hemp Matcha Milkshake

Blogger Kip Dorrell of Messy Vegan Cook has suggested this unique matcha non-dairy milkshake recipe involving healthy but not so tasty hemp seeds. But even these hemp seeds can make for a uniquely tasting matcha preparation, what Kip calls “fresh and grassy”.  The pecans contribute to providing a toasted and buttery flavor. The bitterness of matcha is offset by salt and sugar.

You need:

• 500 ml of water
• 60 grams or half a cup of shelled hemp seeds
• 30 grams or a quarter cup of toasted pecans
• 120 grams or a quarter cup plus a tablespoon of soft palm sugar
• 7 grams or a tablespoon of matcha powder, and
• 5 ml or a teaspoon of vanilla extract

You can add 1/16 of a teaspoon of xanthan gum if you wish to give the milkshake a bit of viscosity.  

Blend these ingredients in a blender till they get smooth. Kip suggests straining the liquid through a bag of nut milk or muslin to make it even smoother.  

Strawberry Banana Matcha Milkshake

The yummy goodness of strawberry and banana combine with the healthy matcha to give you a really tasty milkshake from MatchaSecrets.com.

What you need:

• 1 banana
• Half a cup of strawberries
• A quarter cup of milk, coconut milk or any other milk alternative
• A tablespoon of some sweetening agent – sugar, maple syrup or honey, and
• A tablespoon of matcha powder

First, cut the banana into chunks and freeze them. That will give your milkshake a thick consistency. Blend all the ingredients in a blender till they become smooth.

There are many other recipes to experiment with matcha which you should definitely be aware of. So, beat the heat with these refreshing matcha milkshakes and do yourself some good this summer!