Ube vs matcha: what is the difference?
Ube vs matcha: matcha is a Japanese green tea, and it has caffeine. Ube is a purple yam, described as gently sweet with a vanilla note, and it has no caffeine. For a dessert in a cup or a drink without caffeine, choose ube. For a round tea taste or a morning drink, choose matcha.
We sell matcha, not ube. And we'll tell you when ube is the better choice.
By the Matcha Matcha team · updated November 2026 · 7 min read
Ube and matcha in two columns
| Criterion |  MatchaMatcha | UbeUbe |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A Japanese green tea, ground to a very fine powder. | A purple yam, Dioscorea alata.[1] |
| Origin | Japan. Ours comes from Kagoshima, from a first harvest. | The Philippines, where its name comes from.[1] |
| Taste | Smooth and vegetal, with a round, almost salty note: umami. | Described as gently sweet and earthy, with vanilla and nutty notes.[1][2] |
| Colour | Bright green, the green of young leaves shaded for about three weeks. | Deep purple, from its natural pigments, anthocyanins.[1] |
| Caffeine | Yes: 38 to 89 mg in a 2 g latte.[3] | None in the yam.[4] If you avoid caffeine, ube wins. |
| Texture | Velvety, with a fine foam once whisked. | Moister than sweet potato.[1] In a drink, it depends on the product. |
| Form | A powder. | Powder, extract, frozen grated ube or jam (halaya).[2] |
| Sugar | You don't have to sweeten it: ours is good on its own. | It depends on the product. The list of ingredients will tell you. |
| Preparation | 2 g, which is one small teaspoon, whisked in 30 ml of water at 70 °C, then 150 ml of milk. | In milk, depending on the form you buy. There is no single dose: follow the pouch. |
| Without milk | Yes: 1 g in 70 to 100 ml of water between 70 and 75 °C. | More often as a milk drink, or in a dessert.[1] |
| Calories | About 9 kcal for 2 g of powder. The rest comes from the milk and the sugar. | No figure holds for a cup: it all depends on the product and the milk. |
Have you picked your colour?
Leaning towards purple?
We don't sell it, and we won't send you to any seller. One piece of advice all the same: read the list of ingredients. They are listed from the heaviest to the lightest.[5] If ube comes a long way after sugar, you know what you are mostly drinking.
Leaning towards green?
One small teaspoon of Organic Ceremonial Matcha, your milk, and it's ready in two minutes. It is a first harvest from Kagoshima, and it stays smooth under the milk.
If you already have a whisk or a milk frother, take the pouch. If you are starting from nothing, take the Kit.
★★★★★ 4.5/5 · 262 shop reviews
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OrganicKagoshima, JapanOrganic Ceremonial Matcha
Smooth and vegetal, ready in two minutes.
29,90 € · about €1.20 of matcha per latte
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Getting startedMatcha Kit
The matcha, the bamboo matcha whisk (chasen) and the matcha spoon to measure your 2 g.
44,90 € · 9% cheaper than buying the three separately
What is ube matcha?
Ube matcha, or ube matcha latte, is a drink in two layers: ube at the bottom, milk, then matcha on top.[6]
It is the glass you see on social media. People mostly drink it iced, with the matcha sitting on top of the milk. In a hot drink the layers mix faster. Nothing stops you from pairing the two: you make the green layer separately, with 2 g of matcha, which is one small teaspoon, in 30 ml of water at 70 °C. The glass contains the caffeine of its matcha, so it is no longer a caffeine-free drink. How the mix tastes is for you to say.
Over ice, the matcha sits on top of the milk. This is the version in the photos.
- Matcha
- Milk
- Ube
What do ube and matcha taste like?
Ube is described as gently sweet with a vanilla note, and our matcha as smooth, vegetal and round when it is made well.
Matcha
smooth
vegetal
round
umami
Bitterness almost always comes from water that is too hot or a dose that is too large: with water between 70 and 75 °C, our Organic Ceremonial Matcha stays smooth.
Ube
gently sweet
earthy
nutty
vanilla
These are the words of the sources cited.[1][2] A sweetened or flavoured powder will taste of its recipe as much as of the yam, which is why the list of ingredients matters.
The first tastes of tea and the second is closer to a dessert. That is probably all you need to remember in front of a café menu.
What is ube?
Ube is a purple yam from the Philippines, eaten as a purée, a powder or a jam, with a gentle taste that recalls vanilla.
In the Philippines it goes into cakes, ice creams and doughnuts. Its colour did the rest on social media. Ube jam, called ube halaya, is one of the ingredients of halo-halo, an iced dessert.[1]
Is ube a sweet potato?
No. Ube is a true yam. The purple sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas, belongs to another family, the morning glories.[2] Both are purple, which explains the confusion, and ube is also mistaken for taro.[1] The yam also has a moister texture than the sweet potato.[1]
Ube at a glance
- Ube and matcha compared
- Criterion
- Matcha
- Matcha[1]
- Ube
- Ube
- What it is
- A Japanese green tea, ground to a very fine powder.
- A purple yam, Dioscorea alata.[1]
- Origin
- Japan. Ours comes from Kagoshima, from a first harvest.
- The Philippines, where its name comes from.[1]
What is matcha?
Matcha is a powdered Japanese green tea: you drink the whole leaf, ground to a very fine powder.
The young leaves are shaded for about three weeks before the harvest, then dried, sorted and ground in a stone mill. Kept out of the sun, the leaf stays tender, and that is where the round taste comes from. Our Organic Ceremonial Matcha is a first harvest from Kagoshima, in the south of Japan, and it is organically grown.