Salt is the best flavor enhancer of all time, in both savory and sweet dishes and drinks. It’s a known trick that adding salt to coffee makes it taste less bitter. So, naturally, we need to try it with matcha, featuring this delicious sea salt matcha drink!
This sea salt cream matcha is sweet, savory, and creamy with an addictive flavor. If you’ve tried a sea salt matcha at a café, this version is an easy way to make it at home. Inspired by Vietnamese cafe muoi, this version combines a strong matcha concentrate with a salted cream top for an addictive, decadent drink.
Here’s how to make a sea salt matcha drink at home!
Why You’ll Love This Sea Salt Cream Matcha Latte
- It’s a satisfying textural and flavor experience
- It’s sweet, salty, and creamy!
- An easy recipe for a cafe-quality drink
- Creative fusion of flavors and cultures
What is a Sea Salt Matcha?
A sea salt cream matcha, also known as a salted cream matcha or salted matcha, is a matcha version of café muoi, a salted cream coffee from Vietnam. The original version has a sweet and salty, fluffy cream that sits on top of a concentrated, strong Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk.
What is Cafe Muoi? Vietnamese robusta coffee is notoriously bold and strong, with a bitter and smoky flavor. To balance out the flavor, people add flavor enhancers like sugar and salt, which make it more palatable for everyday people. Since you drink the cream first, people make the cream salty and sweet so you can taste the sweet cream and then the bitter coffee. The contrast between the cream and coffee is so satisfying!
Why Add Salt to Matcha? The matcha version replaces the Vietnamese coffee with a strong matcha concentrate, which pairs really nicely with the salted cream. Just like with coffee, the salt helps round out any bitterness from the matcha. As a result, this drink is super smooth, decadent, and creamy with a slightly savory twist.
Salty and Sweet: An Explanation
Ever notice how some of the best sweet treats have a hint of salt? From salted caramel to buttered toast and even your favorite chocolate chip cookie, this combo shows up everywhere—and it’s not just a trend. There’s actually a bit of food science behind why it works so well.
Food Science Break: According to research (Henney JE et al., 2003), sodium interacts with taste receptors in a way that makes sugar taste even sweeter, without needing to add more of it. Salt helps mellow out any bitterness, reduce sharp or metallic notes, and brings out a more balanced, rounded flavor overall.
That’s why just a small pinch of salt can make all the difference, like in this sea salt matcha!
What Does a Sea Salt Matcha Latte Taste Like?
This sea salt matcha tastes like matcha-flavored kettle corn, minus the corn flavor. It’s sweet and salty, with a nice umami aftertaste from the matcha, reminiscent of salted caramel. The cream makes it even smoother, giving it the flavor of ice cream. I’ve never had this flavor, but I think this drink would taste exactly like a matcha salt water taffy!
It’s unlike most matcha sweets, which tend to be plain sweet, but the added salt enhances the matcha flavor. It also works in savory dishes, and you can even find matcha salt sold at some stores and used in restaurants.
How to Make Sea Salt Cream
Sea salt cream is super easy to make and literally takes 4 ingredients, sometimes even 3! Most cafes in Vietnam will just whip heavy cream and sugar (or condensed milk), but I like to add some milk to give it a fluffier texture (aka sweet cream cold foam) that’s easier to drink and mix.
For homemade sea salt cream, whip heavy cream, salt, sugar, and milk (if desired) together in a tall glass until soft and fluffy. Be careful not to whip it to stiff peaks, which will give you whipped cream that is tough to drink. You want to stop whipping when the cream is fluffy and sturdy enough to be scooped by a ladle, but soft enough to be pourable.
How to Whisk Matcha
Whisking matcha is the key to getting that smooth, creamy texture in your latte—no clumps, no graininess. (Looking at you, Starbucks 👀.) If your matcha isn’t whisked properly, it won’t blend well, and you’ll end up with a gritty mess.
You’ll need: a matcha bowl (chawan), a small sieve, your matcha powder, a bamboo whisk (chasen), and some water. That’s it!
To start, soak your chasen in warm water for a few seconds to soften the bristles—it makes whisking way easier. Then, sift your matcha powder into your bowl to break up any clumps before you add water. Pour in a bit of room temp or hot (but not boiling) water, and whisk in a quick zigzag or “M” motion using just your wrist.
After 15–20 seconds, you should see a layer of tiny, creamy bubbles form on top—that’s the velvety foam we’re going for. Once you’ve got that, you’re ready to pour it into your milk and build your latte!
And don’t worry if you don’t have a bamboo whisk—there are other ways to whisk matcha, too!
How to Make a Sea Salt Cream Matcha Latte
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ tsp matcha powder
- ½ cup water
- 1 tsp condensed milk
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp milk
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 2 tsp sweetener
- 1 cup ice
- Matcha powder for garnish
Sea Salt Matcha Latte Recipe
- Sift matcha powder into a matcha bowl, then add room temperature water. Whisk matcha for 10-20 seconds using a bamboo whisk in zigzag motions until a foam with small, tight bubbles forms on top.
- Add condensed milk to matcha and dissolve using a spoon.
- Add heavy cream, milk, salt, and sweetener to a tall glass. Whip cream for 10-20 seconds using a handheld electric frother until soft and fluffy but still pourable.
- Add ice and whisked matcha to a glass, then top with softly whipped cream. Dust with matcha powder for garnish.
- Mix and enjoy!
Other Matcha Recipes to Try
You have to try other sweet and creamy matcha combinations after trying this sea salt cream matcha latte. See what other sweet and salty combos work well with matcha—here are some other matcha recipes to try next:
- Salted maple matcha latte
- Salted honey matcha latte
- Pistachio matcha latte
- Salted pistachio matcha latte
- Salted tahini honeycomb matcha latte
- Matcha einspanner
- Salted vanilla matcha latte
Addictive Sea Salt Cream Matcha
Ingredients
- 1½ tsp matcha powder
- ½ cup water
- 1 tsp condensed milk
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp milk
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 2 tsp sugar or sweetener
- 1 cup ice
- Matcha powder for garnish
Instructions
- Sift matcha powder into a matcha bowl, then add room temperature water. Whisk matcha for 10-20 seconds using a bamboo whisk in zigzag motions until a foam with small, tight bubbles forms on top.
- Add condensed milk to matcha and dissolve using a spoon.
- Add heavy cream, milk, salt, and sweetener to a tall glass. Whip cream for 10-20 seconds using a handheld electric frother until soft and fluffy but still pourable.
- Add ice and whisked matcha to a glass, then top with softly whipped cream. Dust with matcha powder for garnish.
- Mix and enjoy!
Tips:
- Add Vanilla: If you want an extra layer of flavor, add vanilla extract or syrup to your cream. This will give you a nice, subtle floral and creamy taste to this drink.
- Dissolve Salt in Water: You can add the salt and sweetener directly to the cream, but you may find small granules undissolved. Add a little bit of hot water to your salt and sweetener, then dissolve by swirling or mixing with a spoon. This way, the seasonings will dissolve instantly with the cream for an ultra-smooth and flavorful top.
- Use High Quality Cream: Since the sea salt cream is the star of the show, using a good quality heavy cream makes a huge difference. Lower quality heavy creams will have a weird, bitter aftertaste that can be off-putting. Grab cream from a local dairy farm or one that uses full-fat milk and doesn’t add any additives or less fat.
- Use a Smaller Glass: This drink is inspired by the small sea salt cream coffee from Vietnam, which is known for its petite size and bold flavor. I mimic this portion using a smaller 10-oz cup, which is more than enough since the matcha is strong.
Leave a Reply