Tia Maria's New Matcha Liqueur (plus how to drink it)

Tia Maria have just launched their new matcha liqueur in Australia, so we take a look at this new easy way of introducing the flavour into cocktails and how you should drink it.

First up, for those who haven’t tried it before, matcha is a very fine powder that’s made from green tea leaves. The plants the leaves come from for matcha specifically spend the last three to four weeks under giant nets in the shade before harvest, which encourages more caffeine and theanine production in the leaves giving them a distinct flavour and sweetness. Typically drank as a tea or served with milk like a coffee (matcha lattes have definitely infiltrated coffee culture here in Aus), it can also be used to flavour food and cocktails.

As a grainy powder with lots of flavour, matcha usually works best in drinks with texture, like sours made with egg white or aquafaba, or in creamy drinks that use a whole egg like flips or cream like an Alexander.

Tia Maria is no doubt a brand you will definitely have heard of before, it is globally renowned for its coffee liqueur, so it makes a lot of sense it’s the brand that has managed to incorporate the popular matcha flavour into a stable tea liqueur.

But how does it taste? This is a cream liqueur, which is perfect considering we already know that’s how matcha works best in cocktails and alcoholic drinks. The liquid is a pale creamy pistachio colour, sitting at 17% abv so there’s a gentle spiritous backbone while the dominate flavour is a pleasingly dry matcha – the balance is exceptional. Tried and rated already on Difford’s Guide – here’s what our founder Simon Difford thought (spoiler: he liked it).

You can grab a bottle of Tia Maria Matcha Cream Liqueur from Boozebud.

Tia Maria are suggesting a simple serve of poured over ice, and it is very pleasant to sip that way. As a cocktail website however we had to give their Matcha Martini a go, which is Tia Maria Matcha Cream shaken with vodka and served up with a matcha and sugar rim.

Matcha Martini

Glass: Coupe or Martini
Garnish: Match & sugar rim
How to make: SHAKE both ingredients with ice. Strain into chilled glass with matcha rim already in place.
15ml vodka
45ml Tia Maria Matcha Cream liqueur

To make the rim, mix two teaspoons of sugar and one teaspoon of matcha powder in a dish. Chill your glass for 10 minutes in the freezer, or until you have moisture on the glass. Dip the glass rim into the mix of matcha powder and sugar.

We say: the additional vodka shaken with the liqueur brings in more aeration and a subtle dryness. If you usually opt for Espresso Martinis but are keen to give Matcha a go, this is the cocktail for you.

You can now purchase a bottle of Tia Maria Matcha Cream Liqueur from Boozebud.