This Ube Latte recipe is deliciously refreshing, creamy, and super easy to make at home. Whether you’re craving a vibrant purple yam latte in the morning or an afternoon pick-me-up, this recipe has you covered.
With just a few simple ingredients, you can enjoy a colorful and frothy Ube Latte anytime - no café trip needed!
💜 What's Great About this Recipe:
- This vegan Ube Latte recipe is creamy, frothy, and perfect as a purple yam latte at home.
- it simply looks beautiful
- it's dairy free and vegan-friendly as it is made with plant-based milk, purple Ube powder and espresso
- it's refreshing and a perfect afternoon pick-me-up
- it's super quick and easy to make!
Jump to:
🍠 What is Ube?
Ube (or purple yam) is the star of this Ube Latte recipe, giving it its vibrant purple color and mildly sweet taste. It is also known as greater yam or dioscorea alata.
It is a yam and therefore classed as a vegetable and it grows as a tuber on perennial vines. Its color can range from a vivid purple to a bright lavender.
It's often confused with taro or the Okinawa sweet potato due to its shape and color and it originates in the Asian tropics, e.g. the Philippines.
It's not a recent discovery but has been known to humankind since ancient times.
Over the past couple of years, Ube, the star of our Ube Latte recipe, has become increasingly popular in the US and beyond - especially due to the exciting coloration it adds to recipes.
👅 What does Ube taste like?
Ube has a mildly sweet, nutty and earthy taste - similar to the taste of sweet potato or taro.
The vibrant color of the vegetable is often used in cooking to create bright, vivid colors in food, such as this Ube latte.
Ube is often associated with traditional and modern Filipino cuisine (where it's often called ube or ubi and is mostly used in Filipino desserts, such as cheesecake, donuts, tarts and pastries.
🛒 Where to buy Ube powder?
Ube powder, also called purple yam powder, is widely available in Asian supermarkets or online stores in the UK and worldwide, e.g. Amazon.
🍶 Ingredients & Notes
For this Ube Latte recipe, you’ll need just a few simple ingredients, including Ube powder, plant milk, and espresso:
Ube powder (purple yam powder)
You can find Ube powder in most large Asian supermarkets or online. I bought ube powder on Amazon before, which makes it super convenient to get hold of ube powder across the globe.
Plant Milk
You can use your favorite milk of choice for this recipe! My personal favorite go-to is coconut milk - I simply love this flavor in combination with the ube! Homemade oat milk is also a great choice.
Vanilla extract & sweetener
a little vanilla and sweetness works really well with this drink! You can opt for vanilla extract and your favorite sweetener, e.g. maple syrup or agave, or use a vanilla flavored coffee syrup to sweeten your drink.
You can swap the vanilla extract and sweetener for homemade vanilla syrup.
Espresso
I like to let my espresso cool down before adding it to the latte, as I love it ice cold. You only need a shot of espresso for this recipe, but feel free to add more if you feel like it!
🥄 Equipment:
- small whisk
- blender (optional)
🧑🍳 How to Make an Ube Latte
The beautiful thing about Ube latte is the stunning color and watching how the different layers of the drink slowly mix once combined! It's super easy to make, and here's how!
Here’s how to make your frothy, colorful Ube Latte at home in just 3 steps.
1️⃣ Step 1:
To start making your Ube Latte, add the ube powder to the serving glass of your choice and pour in enough water to dissolve it with a thorough whisk.
2️⃣ Step 2:
Pour the milk into the blender to make it super frothy! You can also use a milk frother with a cold froth setting or omit this step entirely if you don't want to get the blender out. I personally prefer the latte with a little froth!
Add the vanilla extract and sweetener and blend on a high speed for roughly a minute, or until the milk is slightly frothy.
3️⃣ Step 3:
Add the ice cubes to the glass, then top with the frothed milk and pour the espresso shot over the top. Watch the beautiful colors of the drink mix slowly & stir the drink before indulging!
Now that you know how to make an Ube Latte, why not give it a try?
Check out my other coffee recipes like this Iced Vanilla Latte or try a sweet treat with your Ube Latte by pairing it with Vegan Mochi Donuts. And why not add a delicious drizzle of homemade vanilla syrup?
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
No, not at all! Taro and ube get mixed up all the time, but they are actually two completely different vegetables. Ube is sweeter than taro, whilst taro is a lot more starchy. Also, their textures are different - taro is a whole lot creamier than the texture of ube.
You can easiest differentiate ube and taro by their color: Taro is mainly white with purple veins running throughout the vegetable, whilst ube is a deep purple throughout.
An ube is not a sweet potato, but a yam - however, it is often also called a 'purple sweet potato' which is a misleading name for the vegetable. The connotation with sweet potato is probably mostly due to the shape and color of the outer skin, which resembles sweet potato.
Ube is a yam, and yams are commonly known to be growing as a tuber on perennial vines. To be a fruit, the plant must be developed by flowers and contain productive cells, which is not the case for ube, and it, therefore, makes it a vegetable.
📌 If you love Pinterest you can pin any of the images to your boards!
If you love coffee, then why not check out my other coffee recipes from the blog, such as Iced Vanilla Latte, or Coffee Chocolate Tart?
👉 You might also enjoy these recipes:
Did you make this recipe? If so, will you do me a huge favor and leave a review and star rating & let me know how you liked this recipe? THANK YOU! ❤️
📖 Recipe Card
Ube Latte
Equipment
- 1 small whisk
- 1 blender optional
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon ube powder (purple yam powder) find it on Amazon
- ¾ cup cold plant milk (180 ml) such as coconut
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon sweetener of your choice e.g. vanilla syrup, maple syrup or sugar
- 1 shot espresso (1 oz, 30 ml) cold
- small ice cubes
Instructions
- Place the ube powder into your glass and whisk it thoroughly with enough water to dissolve it.
- Blend the plant milk in a high-speed blender with the vanilla extract and sweetener for roughly 1 minute or until lightly frothy.
- Place the ice cubes into your glass, pour the frothy milk over the top and finish off with the shot of espresso.
- Admire the beautiful color of your drink, and stir before you enjoy your Ube Latte.
Notes
- Instead of vanilla extract and sweetener, you can make your own vanilla syrup from scratch and use it in this Ube Latte.
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Jessica L. says
Love the gorgeous color of this latte! 😍
Prerna says
Simply delicious!