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Gingerbread matcha latte — a recipe with homemade gingerbread syrup

12 November 2026 · 6 min read · Avelor

A green latte that smells like a tray of gingerbread. The whole trick is a syrup you cook once a fortnight — five minutes of work, after which every cup takes no longer than a plain matcha latte.

Gingerbread matcha latte — a recipe with homemade gingerbread syrup

A gingerbread matcha latte is a classic matcha latte with one change: the milk is sweetened with gingerbread syrup — sugar, water, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. The matcha stays the same: 2 g of powder whisked with water at 70–80 °C. The spices go into the milk, not into the bowl, so the green base keeps its colour and smoothness. It needs no new equipment.

Ingredients for one serving

2 g ceremonial matcha (a level teaspoon),
50–60 ml water at 70–80 °C,
200 ml milk, dairy or plant-based,
10 ml gingerbread syrup (2 teaspoons) — recipe below,
a pinch of cinnamon for the top.

Gingerbread matcha latte step by step

Sieve 2 g of matcha through a fine mesh into a bowl or wide cup.
Pour in 50–60 ml of water at 70–80 °C — not boiling.
Whisk for 15–20 seconds with a chasen or a frother until you have a smooth base with a fine foam.
Heat 200 ml of milk with 10 ml of gingerbread syrup to 60–65 °C and foam it.
Pour the milk slowly down the side onto the finished base.
Taste, and only then add more syrup if needed; finish with a pinch of cinnamon.

Why the water must not be boiling is explained separately: water temperature for matcha. Milk above 65 °C loses its own sweetness — and then you need more syrup than you should.

Homemade gingerbread syrup (about 150 ml, 15 servings)

100 g sugar (brown sugar gives a deeper, caramel note),
100 ml water,
1 teaspoon ground ginger,
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon,
¼ teaspoon ground cloves,
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg.

Bring everything to the boil in a small pan, turn the heat down and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring. Leave to cool, strain through a fine sieve or muslin — unstrained syrup leaves a spice sediment in the cup — and pour into a clean bottle with a lid. It keeps in the fridge for up to two weeks. Do not add cloves “by eye”: they are the first to take over.

How much syrup — taste and calories

Syrup per cup	Result	Calories from syrup
5 ml (1 teaspoon)	spice in the background, barely sweet	approx. 13 kcal
10 ml (2 teaspoons)	clear gingerbread, moderate sweetness	25–30 kcal
15 ml (1 tablespoon)	dessert version	approx. 40 kcal

The latte itself, on 200 ml of semi-skimmed milk, is about 110 kcal, so the version with 10 ml of syrup comes to about 135–140 kcal. A homemade 1:1 syrup is lighter than most shop-bought ones, which usually carry 30–35 kcal per 10 ml. The sums for other milks: matcha latte calories. Caffeine does not change — 60–70 mg from 2 g of matcha.

The no-syrup version — two minutes

No syrup to hand? Sieve the matcha together with ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon, a pinch of ginger, a pinch of cloves and a touch of nutmeg, and stir a teaspoon of honey into the milk. That is the variant from our spiced matcha latte recipe — less sweet, spicier, with a little of the spice noticeable in the base.

Iced gingerbread matcha latte

Whisk the base exactly as above. Fill a glass with ice, pour in 150 ml of cold milk mixed with 10 ml of syrup, and add the green base last — slowly, over an ice cube, so the layers hold. More on the technique: iced matcha.

Which milk

Warm spices are carried best by milk with some fat: whole or semi-skimmed dairy, or barista oat. Almond gives a lighter but thinner drink in which the cloves step forward. Foam, taste and colour compared: which milk for a matcha latte.

Which matcha

Syrup does not cover a powder’s flaws — a bitter, yellowish matcha stays bitter under gingerbread too. Of the Avelor lines, the gentle SABI suits sweetened milk drinks; OMI has pronounced umami and low bitterness. The differences between the lines: IKI, SABI or OMI.

For cafés: a seasonal item with no new equipment

The syrup scales directly: 500 g of sugar and 500 ml of water with five times the spices gives about 750 ml, or 75 servings of 10 ml. A pump dispenser keeps it consistent between shifts. The cost per serving is worked out as for a plain latte — only the syrup is added: matcha latte cost per serving. How to put a seasonal item on the menu: matcha on a café menu; 500 g and 1 kg formats: the business offer.

In short

2 g of matcha, 50–60 ml of water at 70–80 °C, 200 ml of milk heated with 10 ml of gingerbread syrup to 60–65 °C. The syrup: sugar and water 1:1, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg — 5 minutes of simmering, up to two weeks in the fridge. A tin of matcha and a bottle of your own syrup also makes a ready gift idea.

問 FAQ

How do you make a gingerbread matcha latte?

Whisk 2 g of sieved matcha with 50–60 ml of water at 70–80 °C. Heat 200 ml of milk with 10 ml of gingerbread syrup to 60–65 °C, foam it and pour it onto the base. Finish with a pinch of cinnamon.

How do you make gingerbread syrup for a latte?

Simmer 100 g of sugar, 100 ml of water, a teaspoon each of ground ginger and cinnamon, and ¼ teaspoon each of cloves and nutmeg for 5 minutes on a low heat. Strain once cool. It makes about 150 ml — 15 servings.

How many calories are in a gingerbread matcha latte?

On 200 ml of semi-skimmed milk with 10 ml of homemade syrup it is about 135–140 kcal: roughly 110 kcal from the latte and 25–30 kcal from the syrup. Every further 5 ml of syrup adds about 13 kcal.

Does a gingerbread matcha latte contain caffeine?

Yes — the same as a plain matcha latte: 60–70 mg from 2 g of matcha. The spices and syrup neither add nor remove caffeine.

Can you make it without syrup?

Yes. Sieve the matcha with ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon, a pinch of ginger, a pinch of cloves and a touch of nutmeg, and sweeten the milk with a teaspoon of honey.

How long does gingerbread syrup keep?

A homemade 1:1 sugar-and-water syrup, strained and kept in a clean, closed bottle in the fridge, keeps for up to two weeks. If it turns cloudy or the smell changes, pour it away.

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