Matcha and oat milk by the sea, how we make it

Matcha is green tea ground to a fine powder and whisked into the drink, so you take the whole leaf and not an infusion of it. At Ohana every matcha is made on oat milk, hot or iced, from 1,400 LKR. Here is what the powder is, how it is whisked, and what is in each glass.

What is matcha?

It begins in the shade. For two to three weeks before the harvest, the tea bushes are covered with screens so that little sun reaches them. The leaves turn a deeper green and keep more of the amino acids that give matcha its soft, savoury taste, which the Japanese call umami.

After picking, the leaves are steamed and dried flat, without the rolling that other green teas go through. This leaf is called tencha. It is rested, blended and then ground, slowly, between stones in a cool room, so that the powder does not warm up and lose its taste.

The idea is old. Whisking powdered tea into hot water was the fashion in China about a thousand years ago. A Buddhist monk named Eisai carried it to Japan near the end of the twelfth century. China later moved on to leaf tea, and Japan kept the powder and made it its own.

How is matcha whisked?

By hand, with three simple tools: a bowl, a bamboo scoop and a bamboo whisk with many fine tines, the chasen.

• Sift. The powder is passed through a small sieve first, so that no lumps reach the bowl.
• Add hot water, not boiling. The traditional thin tea is made with water at about 80 to 90 degrees. Water that is too hot makes green tea bitter.
• Whisk. Quickly, until the powder has opened into the water and a fine foam covers the top. The foam softens the sharp edge of the tea.

In Japan there is a thick tea and a thin tea. The thick one uses about twice the powder in half the water and is not foamed at all. What cafes pour is closer to the thin one, a small strong bowl of whisked matcha, and then the milk goes in.

What does oat milk bring to matcha?

Our menu says it in four words: "plant-based from the start". Every matcha drink at Ohana is made without dairy, and you do not have to ask.

Oat milk is mild and a little sweet by nature, so it does not sit on top of the grassy taste of the tea. It steams to a smooth foam for the hot latte. And a guest who eats plant-based can order any matcha on the menu without a question.

Two things to know. Our iced matcha drinks are made with oat milk we make ourselves, and the hot latte with a barista oat milk that steams well. And oats mean gluten: our allergen list marks it on the oat milk drinks. If you avoid gluten, the Blue Tide Matcha is made with coconut milk and has no oat milk in it.

Which matcha drinks do we serve?

• Matcha Latte, 1,400 LKR. Fine matcha whisked into steamed barista oat milk until smooth. Grassy and calm.
• Iced Matcha Latte, 1,400 LKR. Whisked bright green and poured over ice with our own oat milk. Earthy, cool and creamy.
• Iced Matcha Mango, 1,700 LKR. Ripe mango, our own cold oat milk and matcha over ice. Sweet fruit first, then the clean finish of green tea.
• Blue Tide Matcha, 1,600 LKR. Blue butterfly pea at the bottom, matcha and coconut milk on top: two colours in one glass. Stir it and it drinks creamy and lightly sweet.

All four carry the vegan mark on our menu. There is matcha to eat as well.

• Matcha Vitality Bowl, 2,900 LKR. Avocado, banana and matcha blended thick with spinach, gotukola and moringa, under passion fruit and seeds. It is on the breakfast menu, from 08:00 to 11:00.

Does matcha have caffeine?

Yes. It is tea, and shading the bushes raises the caffeine in the leaf. Because you drink the leaf itself, a cup of matcha is not a caffeine-free choice.

Many people find the lift from matcha gentler than the lift from coffee. We are a kitchen, not a clinic, so we leave it there: we make no claim about what matcha does for your health, and nothing here is medical advice. If you are sensitive to caffeine, treat a matcha as you would treat a coffee.

For drinks made without tea or coffee, look at the warm cups and tall glasses in Ayurvedic drinks explained.

When is the right time for a matcha by the sea?

• With breakfast. A hot Matcha Latte beside an Avo Toast or a smoothie bowl. Read about the bowls in smoothie bowls and the fruit of Sri Lanka.
• At the hottest hour. An Iced Matcha Latte under the palms, when coffee feels like too much.
• At the laptop. A change from coffee after lunch, for the afternoon's work.
• Before 18:00. Coffee and matcha are made from 08:00 to 18:00. After that there is Ceylon Tea and Green Tea in a pot, at 700 LKR.

If you would sooner have an espresso, our list of places for coffee in Hiriketiya and Dikwella has our coffee prices too. And the plates that go with either are on our page for breakfast, brunch and coffee near Hiriketiya.

Good to know

• Matcha and coffee are served from 08:00 to 18:00, every day.
• We are at Turtle Beach, Dikwella, less than five minutes by road from Hiriketiya.
• Prices are in LKR, plus a 10% service charge.
• Oat milk in a coffee is 700 LKR extra, coconut milk 550 LKR.
• Filtered water is on the house.