Iced Ube Latte
A detailed recipe guide for crafting a rich ube iced latte with specialty espresso and homemade ube flavored simple syrup.
Dear coffee lovers,
Now that I've got a shiny new espresso machine (my Rocket Appartamento), I figured we could liven up our recipes with an espresso-based drink. Today we’re making an iced ube (a purple yam) latte, which has a perfectly nutty and sweet taste to it.
Let’s get brewing! 👀
You’ll need
A 12oz glass (I wouldn’t recommend using a ceramic or plastic cup because the coloring of the ube syrup may cause staining)
A light/medium roast coffee with a bright and bold flavor profile
Whole milk or your preferred milk alternative
Ube extract/flavoring for your homemade simple syrup
An espresso machine, distribution tools, and tamp
Don’t have an espresso machine yet? No worries. Get some instant espresso or use an Aeropress with a flow control extension to make faux-espresso
A grinder for espresso
A scale to weigh your espresso input/output
Ingredients
2oz of espresso
1oz of homemade ube syrup
6-8oz of whole milk
Ice cubes
Ube syrup recipe steps
Add 1 cup of water and 1 cup of granulated sugar to a small saucepan.
Turn on your stovetop’s burner and bring the water and sugar mixture to a boil.
While the burner is heating up, stir the water and sugar mixture to gradually combine the two ingredients and prevent the mixture from burning.
Once the mixture starts boiling, reduce the stovetop’s burner heat down to a simmer. Let the simple syrup mixture simmer for 5 minutes.
After simmering for 5 minutes, add 2 tsp of ube flavoring into the simple syrup. Stir the mixture to incorporate the ube flavoring into the syrup.
Allow your syrup to cool for a bit, then it’ll be ready to add to your iced latte!
Side note: If you want to make a smaller batch of ube syrup, use ½ cup of water and ½ cup of sugar and 1 tsp of ube flavoring instead.
Iced ube latte recipe steps
Pull your espresso shots (I did 18g of ground coffee with a 36g total output), which should come out to about 2oz.
Fill a 12oz glass with ice cubes, about ¾ full.
Add cold whole milk into the glass, leaving about an inch of space at the top of the glass for your syrup and espresso.
Add 1oz of homemade ube syrup into the glass.
Slowly pour in the freshly brewed espresso shots over the syrup and milk.
Stir gently with a long spoon to partially mix the ingredients, creating a beautiful purple gradient effect.
Serve with a straw and enjoy your beautiful, purple latte. 💜
After making this very simple latte, I was amazed by how unique the flavor of the ube syrup was. At some point, I’d love to make an ube syrup with 100% natural ingredients and I’ll share the recipe with you all when I do. Until then, I hope you enjoy this delicious, deep purple espresso concoction on a sunny day. Happy brewing!
Have a beautiful day,
Jon Hargreaves
Coffee Club Founder/Designer
Editor: Lexi Deverich
Direction: Huey Melendez & Cortez Artis
Photography: Huey Melendez
Recommended equipment & ingredients
Continue reading for recommended products to make this recipe at home! 👀
Lower budget
Suggested coffee: FUNCTION // Seasonal Blend from HEX for $18
Ube flavoring: Ube Extract from Butterfly for $5.88
Glassware: Storsint from IKEA for $14.99
Ice cube tray: W&P Peak Silicone Everyday Ice Tray for $16
Espresso machine: Breville Bambino Plus for $499.95
Espresso grinder: Baratza Encore ESP for $199.95
Espresso scale: TIMEMORE Black Mirror Pro for $52
Instant espresso: Craft Instant Espresso Multiserve from Blue Bottle for $25
To make faux-espresso:
AeroPress Coffee Maker for $39.95
AeroPress Paper Micro-Filters for $9.95
AeroPress Stainless Steel Filter for $14.95
AeroPress Flow Control Filter Cap for $24.95
Additional brewing equipment:
Rhino Coffee Gear Black Tamper for $19.97
Normcore 0.25mm WDT Distribution Tool V2.1 with Stand for $29.99
Normcore Coffee Gravity Distributor Tool for $45.99
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