Starbucks Hot Matcha Green Tea Latte Recipe (Copycat)

If you love a Starbucks Matcha Green Tea Latte but don’t have the time (or the money) to pop into a Starbucks coffee shop on the daily, you’re in for a treat. In this article, we’re going to show you a super simple Starbucks Hot Green Tea Matcha Latte Recipe that you can make at home, with just 4 simple ingredients, and for a fraction of the price you’d pay in Starbucks.

What is Matcha?

Matcha is a type of Japanese green tea powder with an earthy flavor that’s been used in tea ceremonies for centuries. It’s not quite the same as green tea though, because matcha is made by grinding the whole leaf into a fine powder.

So, your tea will be a vibrant green color and when you drink it you’re consuming the entire leaf, getting the maximum flavor and health benefits of matcha. Regular green tea is made by brewing the green tea leaves, and while it’s a healthy drink, it doesn’t offer the same concentration of nutrients and antioxidants.

Matcha also has a higher caffeine content, so is good for an energy boost if enjoyed in moderation.

Which Matcha is Best?

There are different grades of matcha to choose from and they vary in quality and price: ceremonial grade, premium grade, and culinary grade. Ceremonial grade matcha is the best quality and is used in traditional tea ceremonies but is also the most expensive. It is made from the youngest tea leaves and is the purest form of matcha. It has a naturally mild and sweet taste so can be drunk plain without any added extras such as milk or sweeteners.

Culinary-grade matcha is less expensive and is mostly used in cooking and baking. It’s made from older leaves and has a slightly more robust and bitter taste. You can drink it on its own, and it has less caffeine than ceremonial-grade matcha, but it’s best to add sweeteners and milk as it tastes quite strong.

Premium grade is in between the ceremonial and culinary grades. It’s less bitter and milder tasting than culinary grade, and for that reason is more suitable for drinking as tea and more commonly in lattes. It is also more expensive than culinary grade, but cheaper than ceremonial.

This post may contain affiliate links. My full disclosure policy is sort of boring, but you can find it here.

Starbucks Matcha Latte

A Starbucks matcha latte is one of those guilty pleasures that many people enjoy regularly. It’s warm and cozy, and we all know that matcha is full of health benefits. However, if you look at the nutrition information, you’ll find that this delicious drink is not very healthy at all.

The Starbucks version is made from a presweetened matcha mixture that actually has more sugar than matcha in it! Matcha is known for having weight loss properties, but you’re unlikely to lose weight by drinking Starbucks matcha drinks.

A short hot matcha latte contains 14g total sugar, a tall contains 24 grams of sugar, a grande contains 32g, and a venti contains a whopping 43g of sugar. Of course, not all the sugar is added sugar – some comes from naturally occurring milk sugars and some from the matcha itself.

But considering that most adult women should consume no more than 24g of sugar per day, and men no more than 36g, your “healthy” matcha latte uses up most (if not all) of your daily recommended allowance. This is why we don’t recommend regular visits to Starbucks – instead try a Starbucks copycat recipe like ours below which is much healthier!

Ingredients for a Starbucks Hot Matcha Green Tea Latte recipe

Making your own hot matcha green tea latte at home only requires a few simple steps and just 4 ingredients. This latte copycat recipe can also be made healthier by using less sugar or even replacing it with a natural sweetener.

The 4 ingredients to make a matcha latte are hot water, a premium grade matcha powder (you can buy this online), a sweetener, and milk of your choice.

Milk

The milk you use in your matcha latte can affect the taste and texture of the final product. Regular milk (whole milk or skim milk) will give a nice rich creamy texture, but if you prefer an alternative plant based milk (for example if you’re on a vegan diet) you can also use unsweetened almond milk, soy milk, oat milk or coconut milk.

Sweetener

While matcha has a naturally sweet taste, you may want to add some additional sweeteners or flavorings to your latte. Try adding maple syrup, honey, or vanilla syrup or you can even make your own simple syrup with sugar and water.

If you really want to go healthy, then you can leave out the sweetener altogether, but it won’t taste like a Starbucks matcha latte if you do. Some people also like to add a drop of vanilla extract for extra flavor.

Preparing the Matcha

The first step in making a hot matcha green tea latte is to prepare the matcha. You will need a fine powder of matcha, hot water, and a bamboo whisk. Here’s how you can do it:

Add one teaspoon of matcha powder to a small bowl with a sweetener of your choice and hot water. If it’s your first time drinking matcha just stick to one teaspoon. If you prefer a stronger matcha flavor you can experiment with adding more for subsequent drinks.
Use the bamboo whisk to mix the ingredients until well combined and with no lumps.

The second step is to froth the milk. Heat the milk and use a handheld milk frother to make the hot milk bubbly and frothy. Pour the matcha mix over the milk and the foam should rise to the top.

If you don’t have a bamboo whisk (although you should invest in one as this will give the best results) you can add the matcha, water, and sweetener to a mason jar or cocktail jar and shake until it is combined. Then add the milk as before.

That’s it! With this simple copycat Starbucks recipe, you can make your own homemade version of hot matcha green tea latte. It’s such an easy recipe that it will probably become your new favorite way to experience the matcha taste.

Making it Iced

If you prefer your matcha latte cold, it’s easy to make an iced version at home. Simply brew a strong cup of matcha tea and let it cool. Fill a glass with ice cubes, pour the cooled matcha over the ice, and add your choice of cold milk. You can also add a sweetener if you wish. Check out my copycat recipe for an iced matcha latte here.

Starbucks copycat hot matcha green tea latte recipe

A Homemade Matcha Latte is Easy to Make & Delicious

If you want to save money and enjoy green tea lattes at your convenience then it’s well worth learning to make your own at home. A homemade matcha latte is very easy to make and is also healthier than most store-bought lattes which are usually high in calories and in sugar.

At home, you can adjust the ingredients to your own taste and make your matcha tea latte exactly how you want for a fraction of the price.

matcha green tea latte starbucks copycat recipe — *Want to keep this recipe on hand for later? Pin it to your favorite Pinterest board!*

Other Copycat Starbucks Recipes

If you love a good Starbucks copycat recipe, I have tried a ton. Here are my all time Starbucks drinks you can make even better than the Starbucks’ version, and save so much money !