A low caffeine escape from the summer heat, an iced houjicha latte combines the relaxing aroma of houjicha with cool refreshing milk.

Choosing Your Ingredients

While you could make this using a very strong steeping of regular houjicha, we strongly recommend using houjicha powder, as you can create a stronger tea base that can cut through the milk.

As the drink is iced, the milk isn't being steamed or otherwise textured so this recipe is a little more forgiving on your milk choice.

Check out our matcha latte guide for a more in-depth discussion of milk for tea drinks.

Making the Drink

Part 1: The tea

Like all of our tea milk drink recipes, we start out with our concentrated base, this time using 4g of houjicha powder gently mixed into 40ml (~1.5oz) of 80°C water. This 4g/40ml ratio is easy to remember and yields a powerful houjicha flavour in the same volume as a traditional double espresso, meaning you can substitute this houjicha base into your favourite espresso drink recipes.

 
Be sure to sift the houjicha powder into a dry, preheated bowl. A dry vessel and sifted tea help to ensure that there are no clumps in the finished drink. Even though this will be an iced drink, it's important to make the houjicha base hot and at the right temperature, so that it incorporates with the water well and isn't weak or clumpy. A warm bowl also gives you an opportunity to pre-wet your bamboo whisk, softening it and prolonging its lifespan. 

While you could potentially make this base in the same cup or mug you’ll be drinking out of, evenly whisking in such a small space can be difficult, so we prefer to make the houjicha base in a spouted bowl, and pour it into the cup. This also makes it easier to whisk a larger batch for serving multiple people.

This technique is identical to our matcha base, which you can learn about in more detail in our guide.

Part 2: The Milk

For this 8oz latte, measure out 180ml (6oz) of your milk of choice. If you want a stronger drink, you can use less milk. Conversely, feel free to use more if you prefer it weaker. 

If you want to add a liquid sweetener, we recommend mixing your syrup of choice into the milk. This will subtly change the viscosity of the milk, giving you that aesthetic layered or marbled look.  

Combine and Enjoy

Pour your milk into a 10 or 12oz glass filled with ice. Then, pour your houjicha into the glass, making sure it hits the ice first, flash cooling it, before it mixes with the milk.

Then you can mix and enjoy!

Recipe Recap

1. Sift 4g of houjicha powder into a dry, preheated vessel. 
2. Add 40ml (~1.5oz) of 80°C (176°F) water.
3. Whisk slowly in a circular motion.
4. Pour 180ml (6oz) of your milk of choice into a ice-filled 10-12oz (300-350ml) glass. Optionally, add ~5ml of syrup to add texture and sweetness to the milk
5. Pour the houjicha base over the ice
6. Mix and enjoy!