Matcha kefir smoothie

By Nik, founder of 東歐嚴選｜kefir.link and former chef · Updated 2 November 2026

Matcha is green tea in its most concentrated form: fresh leaves are steamed, dried without rolling and ground into a fine powder on a millstone. Here a teaspoon of it is blended with milk kefir, vanilla bean paste and ice into a cold, foamy green drink in five minutes, with no fruit to peel. Milk kefir, sour with a creamy, thick mouthfeel, makes up most of the glass and gives the drink its body.

Get the matcha smooth before the kefir goes in

Small clumps form naturally in matcha powder, and they are not a sign that the tea has gone off. Sifting breaks them up, and stirring the powder into a small amount of hot water first wets every grain, so no lumps are left for the blender to chase. The water should be around 70–80°C, which is roughly a boiled kettle left to stand for three to five minutes. Water that is any hotter makes matcha bitter and dulls its bright green colour.

The grade of matcha matters just as much as the water. Buy drinking-grade matcha for a smoothie, because baking-grade powder is rougher and more bitter when you drink it rather than bake with it. Ordinary green tea powder often looks a dull yellow and tastes harsh.

Banana, honey and other ways to change the glass

Vanilla bean paste is vanilla extract mixed with real vanilla seeds and a thickener, which is why it leaves tiny dark specks through the green. Some pastes sold in Taiwan's baking shops are made with syrup, so they add a little sweetness as well as aroma. To bring in fruit, blend in a sliced frozen banana, which also makes the drink colder and thicker.

Honey pairs well with matcha and kefir too. For a two-tone glass, blend only part of the kefir with the matcha and honey, pour plain kefir into the glass, swirl the green kefir through it and finish with a light dusting of matcha. The smoothie works as part of breakfast or as a snack between meals.