Cherry Blossom Matcha Latte

Jump to Recipe

Lately, I’ve been seeing so many beautiful Japanese drinks and desserts featuring sakura (Japanese for cherry blossoms), and I was inspired to create my own recipe for a cherry blossom matcha latte with leftover dried cherry blossoms from last spring.

I’ve never cooked with cherry blossoms before, so it required a bit of trial and error—but after some recipe testing, I landed on a matcha latte with a delicious balance between earthy matcha and the delicate flavor of the cherry blossoms.

I usually make flavored simple syrups by cooking the ingredient (whether it be fruit, herbs, or other flavors) directly over the heat with sugar and water, but during recipe testing, I learned that cherry blossoms are verysensitive to heat—and when they overcook, they become bitter and lose their wonderful floral flavor. I found that the best method to prevent overheating was to pour hot simple syrup over the cherry blossoms, so they could infuse off the heat, and to only let them steep for 10 minutes. The end result is a flavorful cherry blossom syrup (without any bitterness or off-notes) that’s perfect for stirring into matcha, coffee, or any other spring drinks.

I used dried cherry blossoms, but you can absolutely use fresh ones—just be sure to wash them thoroughly and remove as much of the stems as possible because they can also make the syrup bitter. You can also purchase dried food-grade cherry blossoms online.

Cherry Blossom Matcha Latte

Ingredients:

Cherry Blossom Syrup

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1 cup water

• 1 cup cherry blossoms (fresh or dried)

• 1 tsp dried hibiscus

Cherry Blossom Matcha Latte

• 1 tsp matcha powder

• 2 tbsp water

• 1 cup milk of your choice (I used oat)

• 1-3 tbsp cherry blossom syrup (depending on how sweet you want it to be)

To make:

1. To make the syrup, combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar fully dissolves.

2. Add the cherry blossoms and hibiscus to a jar, then pour the hot simple syrup over the top and mix well. Steep for 10 minutes, then strain out the solids and allow the syrup to cool.

3. To make a matcha latte, whisk matcha powder with water until completely dissolved. In a separate jar, whisk together the milk (warm the milk first if you want a hot drink) and 1-3 tbsp of cherry blossom syrup, depending on how sweet you want your drink to be.

4. Pour the matcha and milk mixture into a mug (or glass with ice) and stir to combine.

You might also like…