A delicious ube latte recipe better than any coffee shop

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The first thing you notice is the color: a lavender hue tending towards amethyst, swirling in the glass like an edible sunset. When the barista sets down an iced ube latte, its aroma is slightly nutty, as if vanilla met roasted chestnut.

What looks like a social media setup is actually a liquid heritage: the beloved Filipino dessert, ube halaya, relaxed with milk and, if you wish, enhanced with an invigorating shot of espresso.

Ube Halaya in a Glass Jar — Homemade Ube Jam in All Its Splendor

From Nilupak to Halaya: the Yam that Launched a Thousand Sips

Long before espresso machines whistled in Manila, purple yams were pounded in large wooden mortars to prepare nilupak. Spanish influence later introduced the term “halaya”, adapted from the word “jalea” (jelly). Despite this new name, the base remained simple: boiled ube, mashed “until smooth, enriched with coconut milk or carabao buffalo milk, then polished with sugar and fat until” it becomes a paste so firm that a spoon can stand upright in it.

Every December, families continue to stir the pot for an hour straight, waiting for the mixture to pull away from the sides and fill the kitchen with a sweet, earthy aroma. The deep purple, dye-free jars from the Good Shepherd convent in Baguio serve as a benchmark; many Filipinos living abroad treasure them like Christmas ornaments wrapped in newspaper.

Thai Tea on a Wooden Background — Another sweet drink from Southeast Asia is thai iced tea

How Café Culture Transformed Halaya into Ube Latte

In the early 2010s, Filipinos in the diaspora began mixing ube halaya with milk (and sometimes espresso) and then sharing the purple drink online, inspiring cafés from Manila to New York to try their own versions.

Purists believe that a true ube latte should taste like “liquid halaya”, not purple syrup. Others wonder if coffee even has a place: some establishments often skip it and sell an iced drink without espresso simply called “ube latte”.

In Reddit comment threads, Filipinos exchange tips on rehydrating ube powder or sneaking frozen grated yam through customs: anything to avoid the taro flavors and artificial purple syrups that flourish in some West Coast bubble tea shops, often served with tapioca pearls. Some chains even bet on taro bubble tea with a hue that rivals that of the ube latte.

The Ingredients of a True Ube Latte

The Yam. Fresh ube offers a floral nut-vanilla depth that “no extract can match, but cooks far from Asian grocery stores can achieve a respectable result with frozen grated yam or quality powder rehydrated with” hot water. Whatever its origin, the yam must be cooked into jam or whipped into a silky paste: residual grains would ruin the smoothness in the mouth. Here I give the recipe for ube jam (ube halaya)

Cooked and Sliced Ube — Fresh ube before being transformed into ube halaya

The Milk. Whole milk provides a richer texture, reminiscent of the creaminess of carabao buffalo milk, while condensed milk adds the caramelized note that many Filipino grandmothers swear by.

The Sweetener. A drizzle of sweetened condensed milk revives the color and thickens the texture, but cane sugar syrup is suitable for those who want to precisely control the sweetness. The golden rule remains moderation: too much sugar and the delicacy of the yam fades. Especially since the ube halaya is already sweetened

The Coffee. When included, espresso should support rather than overwhelm. Many baristas believe that two shots of medium roast espresso balance about 35 cl of ube milk, while a single shot can get lost in the sweetness of the yam and a dark roast dominates the palate.

The color index. The final shade should appear as a soft lavender to the naked eye, even from afar: neither murky gray nor fluorescent. If your drink shines like a highlighter, it likely owes its color to artificial dyes.