This matcha einspanner recipe brings the viral cafe trend to your home kitchen. Who knew that combining a bold, matcha latte with a thick, velvety cream would become the ultimate 10-minute luxury drink?

So, here’s how to make a delicious matcha einspanner at home!

What is Einspanner Matcha?

An Einspanner matcha is the matcha version of the classic Einspanner drink, using whisked matcha as the base, which can also be a matcha latte.

Classic Einspanner vs. Matcha Einspanner:

• Einspanner: An einspänner, or Viennese coffee, is a hot coffee beverage made with espresso that is topped with lots of whipped cream. It started in Austria in the 19th century to keep coffee warm for coachmen and carriage drivers.
• Matcha Einspanner: A matcha einspanner is usually an iced matcha latte with a soft cream top. It has a milky base rather than a plain whisked matcha.

A matcha einspanner tastes sweet, creamy, and extra milky, with a nice, bold, earthy matcha flavor. If you’ve ever had a matcha whipped cream cake or even matcha tiramisu, it tastes very similar.

The key ingredients:

• Robust, umami matcha powder: The star of the show is a good, robust matcha powder. You want to use a good latte grade matcha powder that has a strong, semi-bitter flavor profile that can cut through the milk. Most of the time, this means not using the ceremonial grade powders, which are best drunk plain.
• High-quality heavy cream: You want to use a high-quality cream, because that’s most of the flavor in an einspanner. I love Straus or Clover dairy for its fresh, buttery flavor, and they’re local in California!

What is a Cafe-Style Einspanner?

Most cafes sell Einspanner as a latte with soft whipped cream, different from the original, which is plain coffee topped with whipped cream, no extra milk added. So, expect a richer, creamier treat rather than a balanced creamy coffee or matcha.

You’ll find delicious whipped cream on lattes, matcha, cold brew, and more, especially from trendy cafes like DAMO, Memory Look, Community Goods, and Yeems Coffee, some cafes in LA I’ve tried.

Recently, Memory Look’s double matcha has been going viral, which is this recipe but with matcha added to the cream. But the ultimate queen is the Community Goods matcha einspanner… It’s incredible.

It’s also common to have non-caffeinated versions, including flavored milk, coconut water einspanners, and more. The possibilities are endless!

Einspanner vs. Cold Foam vs. Cream Top

You might be wondering what the difference is between an einspanner, cold foam, and a cream top, since they look and taste identical.

Essentially, they all mean the same thing: they’re just different names for a cafe beverage with a whipped cream topping. However, to me, they have slight nuances in their meanings.

• Einspanner: An einspanner refers to a drink with a whipped cream top.

• Sweet Cream Cold Foam: A cold foam or sweet cream cold foam is a different topping altogether, which is heavy cream and milk that is less viscous than just whipped cream. It’s pourable, has the consistency of drinking yogurt, and melts into the drink relatively easily.
• Cream Top: A general term often used interchangeably with cold foam, but most likely is a softly whipped cream topping.

I love this Eater article that says the einspanner is just a return of whipped cream drinks from our childhood, like frappuccinos or milkshakes, but in adult form.

How to Make Matcha Einspanner

To make a matcha einspanner, you’ll need:

• Einspanner Cream
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• 1-2 tsp sugar
• 1 splash milk
• Matcha Latte
• 1½ tsp matcha powder
• ¼ cup water
• ¾ cup milk
• 1 cup ice

Matcha Einspanner Recipe

1. Making Einspanner Cream: Whip heavy cream, sugar, and milk together until it doubles in size and is fluffy. It should have the consistency of loose yogurt or a smoothie.
2. Making the Matcha Latte: Whisk matcha powder and water in a shallow bowl using a whisk, a cup with a handheld frother, or shake in a lidded jar. Shake or whisk until a foam covers the surface of the matcha and there are no visible clumps.
3. Add ice and matcha latte in a separate cup, then top with the sweetened cream.
4. Mix and enjoy!

The Secret to Perfect Einspanner Cream Consistency

Einspanner cream is notoriously thick yet still somewhat pourable. It’s not as stiff as regular whipped cream, so it is crucial to know when to stop whipping.

Tools: You can whip your heavy cream in various ways, but an electric whisk or frother is best. It whips the cream fast enough to create a foam and incorporates air consistently.

Sometimes, I’ll use a handheld frother to whip cream, which does the job, but it can take a while or not aerate the cream enough for it to have a stable texture. A handheld electric whisk is best for this recipe!

To get soft cream from the get-go, first, add heavy cream and sugar to a cup or bowl, then whip it until you reach soft peaks. If you lift your frother and the cream forms a ‘tail’ that gently floops over rather than standing straight up, you’ve hit the perfect texture.

Keep whisking until you get the consistency of a thick, pourable smoothie.

Troubleshooting Stiff Cream

If you accidentally whip your cream to a stiff stage, add some cream to your mixture and whip it again. You don’t need to whip it as much since it’s already stiff, just enough to get the texture loose.

Matcha to Water Ratio

Making a matcha latte is easy! The hardest part is getting the right ratio of matcha to milk, which depends on how you like your matcha. The perfect ratio for an einspanner base is 1.5 tsp matcha to 2 oz water. This creates a ‘matcha shot’ concentrated enough to stand up to the heavy cream.

You need to whisk matcha in water before you can drink it, which makes it velvety and smooth. Usually, you use a tea bowl and a whisk, called a chawan and chasen. But if you don’t have these tools, you can use an electric frother or shake in a lidded jar.

You want to create a microfoam that will give you a nice mouthfeel. With a chawan, whisk your matcha in a zigzag or z motion, which will help create more bubbles and froth!

Tip: Always sift your matcha through a fine-mesh strainer before whisking to ensure zero clumps.

How to Drink an Einspanner

Before you mix the cream and drink it together, try drinking it from the top through the cream. Tilt your beverage 45 degrees and get a sip of both the cream and drink. Make sure you don’t get a sip full of cream!

In cold einspanners, you’ll get a cream texture contrasting with the silky cream and the smooth matcha. With hot drinks, the temperature contrast is refreshing!

Then, mix your cream into the drink for an ultra-creamy beverage that is sweet and delicious. It might take some stirring to mix the cream into the drink thoroughly. Most of the cream will stay at the top, too, so really get in there!

Pro Tips:

• Sip first. Sometimes cafes will serve a spoon alongside their einspanner drinks so you can scoop the cream and eat it by itself. I love that you can eat it like a dessert! But I recommend sipping through the cream first to get that experience before eating the cream away.
• Don’t use a straw! To experience the texture of a cafe-style einspanner, you should sip directly from the glass. You’ll get the sweet cream and the matcha simultaneously on your palate.

Tips

Here are some tips on making a creamy matcha einspanner at home!

• Instead of sugar, you can use different flavored syrups or sweeteners in your cream, like brown sugar, agave, maple syrup, caramel, lavender, pumpkin spice syrup, etc.
• You can make this vegan with a vegan heavy cream or coconut cream.
• For a less creamy version, add the cream on top of an iced matcha, which is the whisked matcha, and cold water over ice. It’s essentially the same as an iced coffee but with matcha.

Other Einspanner Recipes to Try

If you love soft, fluffy, and sweet Einspanner cream with matcha, then you’ll love it on other drinks too! You can make a sweet and savory corn hojicha einspanner or try the roasted flavors on their own with a hojicha einspanner.

My personal favorite has to be this nutty black sesame einspanner, which you can make with soft cream and your favorite black sesame paste.

Whether you’re trying to recreate it from an LA cafe or making this at your own home cafe, the matcha einspanner is a showstopper. If you tried this, leave a comment below or tag me in your ASMR videos!