aureate & aromatic

The tenth drink of my thirty day book as a beverage series is a pumpkin matcha with a salted honey cold foam. The colors were pulled from my paperback edition of One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez.

I love the cover for this novel, it’s so vibrant and had colors that were fairly easy to choose cohesive flavors for. Even though this book takes place in a fictional town, I believe it’s supposed to be set in Colombia. I considered using some Colombian coffee at first, but couldn’t think of a good way to utilize it whilst also incorporating all of the colors I wanted to. So I wasn’t as intentional with the flavor profile this time around and went solely for color.

This beverage’s name is:

‘pumpkin patcha’

Name Explained: I did not pull any significant meaning for this one. Since two of the primary flavors are pumpkin and matcha I combined pumpkin patch + matcha to get pumpkin patcha and that was that, haha.

Pumpkin Sauce: First time making pumpkin sauce and it was pretty easy. I kind of guessed the measurements – that’s my usual approach to everything, haha – and it worked out thankfully. I lined the cup with some of the raw puree to get that vibrant orange since the sauce darkened when cooking it on the stove.

Matcha: I used Ippodo Tea Ikuyo Matcha, but any you prefer works since it’ll be blending with other flavors! Since I was making a double portion I used 8 g matcha for 100 ml water, so an individual ratio would be 4 g : 50 ml. I personally like the pairing of matcha with almond milk because the nuttiness accentuates the matcha flavor without overpowering it in my opinion.

Salted Honey Cold Foam: Salted honey is something I’ve heard used as a flavor here and there but wasn’t something I personally have tried myself. I can say that it is insanely delicious and something else that I now love and shall be finding any excuse to incorporate it into other foods and bevs going forward, haha. Just a fair warning about the honey used: 20 g seems like a lot for the foam, but I used Mesquite honey which is not sweet at all! If you’re using something like Tupelo or Clover honey then that would require much less as they are naturally sweeter. So pay attention to your honey & taste as you go!

RATING: Overall I’d give the final drink a 5.0.

Flavor Combination: All of the flavors worked together so perfectly I truly have no notes for this. The matcha is still perceptible amidst the salted honey and pumpkin and they all harmonize so, so well!

Ease: The most taxing part of this drink was making the pumpkin sauce. If you have any syrups or sauces on hand then the prep time will be cut down by more than half. Anyone who drinks matcha regularly likely already has a preferred means of preparing it and that can vary time-wise. I use a simple sift and whisk method using a wooden whisk (chasen) that I’ve softened in hot water. For anyone who doesn’t have those tools, just mixing the matcha with some warm water with a hand whisk/frother is fine too!

Appearance: I think the drink came out quite pretty, and it tasted as pretty as it looked, haha. The only quarter point I docked off is because the freeze dried raspberries on top were more red than pink like the book’s cover.

Ways to Improve: This drink was honestly the best of the ones I’ve made so far, but perhaps I’m biased as a matcha drinker. It’s not too sweet and not too difficult to make so there was nothing I’d change to its ingredients or preparation!

Here’s the spreadsheet for all of the tools and ingredients used:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1r98ituvMhsrjiXfidDUlMtrU0u_YwIdNyY_rlxD-8YA/edit?gid=891834841#gid=891834841

I’ve also provided the information below for added ease~

Glass Jars (exact): https://amzn.to/4bCZfIw

Glass Jars (alternative): https://amzn.to/4qZOW62

Brown Sugar (exact): https://amzn.to/3JQLQ49

Pumpkin Puree (exact): https://amzn.to/4qWsYAF

Pumpkin Puree (exact): https://amzn.to/3YGKLQq

Pumpkin Pie Spice (exact): https://amzn.to/4qBSWd1

Cinnamon Powder (exact): https://amzn.to/49qwZaK

Vanilla Bean Paste (exact): https://amzn.to/49ukN8U

Honey (exact): Mostly Mesquite Honey – Trader Joe’s

Matcha Powder (exact): Ippodo Tea – Ikuyo Matcha

Matcha Powder (alternative): https://amzn.to/4k52Gu5

Matcha Powder (alternative): https://amzn.to/4k52DOV

Matcha Powder (alternative): https://amzn.to/4jIyHrq

Sea Salt (exact): https://amzn.to/49HdAky

Almond Milk (exact): https://amzn.to/46VUJRz

Whole Milk (exact): https://tgleedairy.com/products/whole-milk-plastic-quart/

Heavy Whipping Cream (exact): https://www.publix.com/pd/publix-whipping-cream-heavy/RIO-PCI-112684

Freeze Dried Raspberries (exact): https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/freeze-dried-raspberries-096844

Freeze Dried Raspberries (alternative): https://amzn.to/472YTZj

Frother: https://amzn.to/3KS1c8J

Here’s a quick video showing how I made the drinks:

@aureateandaromatic

How I made my One Hundred Years salted honey pumpkin matcha. This is probably the drink I’ve made the most thus far as someone who loves matcha. It also made me discover that salted honey is quite delicious and something else that I now love and shall be finding any excuse to incorporate it into other foods and bevs going forward 😇 Couldn’t give it anything less than 5 ⭐ Nothing I’d change about it, hehe.  First time making pumpkin sauce and it was pretty easy. I kind of guessed the measurements – that’s my usual approach to everything, haha – and it worked out thankfully. I used Ippodo Tea Ikuyo Matcha, but any you prefer works since it’ll be blending with other flavors! Since I was making a double portion I used 8 g matcha for 100 ml water, so an individual ratio would be 4 g : 50 ml. #recipe #onehundredyearsofsolitude #pumpkinmatcha #booktok #bookasabev

♬ fantasmas – HUMBE

Thanks for reading, have a great week!
~ C.C.