Gingerbread Matcha Latte

This Gingerbread Matcha Latte recipe from The Whole Smiths is brought to you in conjunction with Pique Tea. It’s a festive take on your traditional matcha and perfect for the holiday season. 

A Matcha Love Affair.

I started drinking matcha about 5 or 6 years ago in lieu of coffee. As someone who regularly consumes decaffeinated beverages, I still found myself wanting a little pick-me-up and I found the caffeine in matcha to be just right. It wasn’t overwhelming and it didn’t make me feel anxious or jittery like the caffeine from coffee made me feel. 

At first, I started drinking matcha just when I saw it out at local coffee shops. I had no idea how easy it was to make at home for myself as it was a specialty drink. However, since I create recipes for a living, I figured it couldn’t be that hard. Once I realized it’s even easier than making a cup of coffee, I started making them at home and there was no going back.

Finding the Best Matcha. 

First of all, what is matcha? In its most simple terms, it’s a finely ground powder of green tea leaves. Much like green tea, matcha is high in antioxidants, amino acids and chlorophyl. Matcha is believed to help in cellular turnover, promote heart health,  improve brain function and aid in healthy weight management. In short, its good for your body and has a positive impact. 

Not all matcha is created the same however, which is one reason I choose to drink Pique Tea’s Sun Goddess Matcha.  Pique’s Sun Goddess Matcha is 100% organic, quadruple toxin screened and ceremonial grade. It’s pure and you can be certain its free from pesticides, heavy metals, toxic mold, and radioactive isotopes. Not all matches can say the same.

Not to mention, the taste is superior to me. It’s a very clean taste as some other matchas tend to taste a bit too grassy and murky. Pique’s is light and bright and clean. I highly recommend it. 

Perfecting the Gingerbread Spices.

Here’s what brings this recipe to life, the spices. I wanted to replicated that cozy goodness that a warm gingerbread cookies with time if year… without the cookie. I created the perfect combination of spices to give you that extra kick. Rather than have you measure out the variety of spice each and every time you make this recipe, which hopefully is a lot, I give you the ingredients to make a small batch of it to keep on hand. You are likely to have most of these spices on hand. 

A classic flavor that often accompanies gingerbread is molasses. I didn’t add it to this recipe. To be honest, the flavor was a bit pungent and didn’t pair perfectly with this matcha latte. I tried it out and I just didn’t think you guys would like it all that much. Instead, I used a touch of maple syrup and had a much smoother result.

How to Make the Perfect Gingerbread Matcha Latte. 

Making an at-home matcha is easy. Making a Gingerbread Matcha latte at home is just as easy. Matcha is ground so finely that all you need to do is add hot water to it and give it a good stir to get it dissolved properly. So the obvious first step is to add your match to a cup along with your gingerbread spices and add hot water. Give it a goods tip until the match is dissolved and add your maple syrup. I don’t like my matches overly sweetened so I just add a tad but feel free to add more. 

Next up, we have the milk. You can use any type of milk you’d like. It could be dairy milk, oat milk, coconut milk, almond milk or any other type of milk that’s out there these days. We want to get the milk hot, so there’s a couple of options you have here. One, microwave it. Or on the stovetop, whatever. That’s an easy way and really, it will be just as tasty. OR! You can use a milk steamer / frother and make it extra special, straight out out your favorite coffee shop.

Once you have hot milk, simply pour it into your matcha and enjoy. It’s that easy.

A Simple Gift of Matcha.

Not only does this recipe serve as a perfect treat for ourselves, it makes the best little gift. I thought of this idea after I had already created most of this post. Simply take one of your Pique matcha sachets, place it into an 8 ounce mason jar, add 1/2 teaspoon of the gingerbread spice and add a little bow and gift tag with instructions how to make a gingerbread latte. It makes a great budget-friendly gift for those in your life that you’d like to give a little token to but not necessarily a full on present. Whether that’s co-workers, neighbors, etc.., they’re sure to love it!