Kat's Kitchen

I recently tried ube for the first time when I made my Dunkin Potion Macchiato recipe, and I instantly fell in love with the flavor! Ube is a purple yam that has a sweet, nutty, vanilla flavor, and it pairs so nicely with desserts and coffee. So I starting brainstorming more recipes I could make with ube and I landed on this deliciously fabulous Ube White Mocha!

This recipe has everything you love about an iced white mocha, with a beautiful purple ube cold foam that compliments the drink perfectly! Whether you’re looking for a fun coffee to make for spooky season, or you’re just a fan of ube, you are going to love this Ube White Mocha!

Ingredients Needed To Make An Ube White Mocha at Home:

For the exact measurements of each ingredient, scroll to recipe card at the very bottom of this post.

• White Chocolate Sauce: Since this is a white mocha, we need white chocolate sauce. I personally love the Torani White Chocolate Sauce, but you can use any brand you like most. You could even use sweetened condensed milk if that’s all you have on hand. For a lower sugar version of this drink, you could use a Sugar Free White Chocolate Sauce or a sugar free sweetened condensed milk.

• Espresso: All white mochas require espresso as one of the ingredients. Espresso can be made using an espresso machine, a Nespresso machine with espresso pods, a Moka pot, and Aeropress, instant espresso, or a Keurig machine that has a shot function. For details on all these methods, see my 5 Ways To Make Espresso At Home blog post.
• Milk: I like 2% milk in this recipe, but feel free to use whatever milk you like best. Note, the milk will be used as the base of the white mocha, as well as an ingredient in the ube cold foam.
• Ice: This recipe is meant to be iced since we’re adding cold foam to the top, but you can absolutely make a hot white mocha and still add the ube cold foam on top. Note, for a hot version of this drink, you won’t need any ice.
• Ube Extract: The ube extract gives the ube cold foam its beautiful and vibrant purple color as well as that delicious nutty flavor. Use less extract for a less intense purple color, and more extract for a deeper, more intense purple color.

• Heavy Cream: Heavy cream gives cold foam its super thick and creamy texture. If you are dairy free, you can use dairy free heavy cream or a combination of oat milk and soy milk instead of regular milk and heavy cream!
• Handheld Milk Frother: This is less of an ingredient and more of a tool, but you will need a handheld milk frother to create the ube cold foam in this recipe.

Now that we know the ingredients, let’s talk a bit about how to make espresso at home for the white mocha!

How To Make Espresso At Home

There are five ways to make espresso at home:

• Instant Espresso Powder
• Nespresso Machine
• Moka Pot
• Aeropress
• Espresso Machine

See my 5 Ways To Make Espresso At Home blog post for step by step instructions of each espresso making method!

Once you establish which method you want to use for making espresso, then we can decide on exactly which coffee products to buy!

What’s The Best Coffee to Use For Espresso?

For an Espresso Machine, a Moka Pot, or an Aeropress:

• Laka Java Wahine Blonde Roast Espresso (Use code: katerinafaith for 10% off)
• Press Coffee Twitch Espresso Beans
• Press Coffee Spitball Espresso
• Blue Bottle Coffee Espresso Beans

For a Nespresso Machine:

• Orafio (single shot pods)
• Peru Organic (single shot pods)
• Double Espresso Dolce (double shot pods)
• Double Espresso Chairo (double shot pods)

For Instant Espresso:

• Nescafe Gold Instant Espresso (light/blonde roast)
• Cafe Bustelo Instant Espresso (dark roast)

Note for instant espresso, I like to follow the following ratios:

• Single shot: 1/4 tablespoon instant espresso + 1.25 ounces warm water
• Double shot: 1/2 tablespoon instant espresso + 2.5 ounces warm water
• Triple shot: 3/4 tablespoon instant espresso + 3.75 ounces warm water
• Quad shot: 1 tablespoon instant espresso + 5 ounces warm water

What is a “Shot” of Espresso?

A common espresso term you’ll see a lot is a “shot” of espresso. When you brew espresso using an espresso machine, the liquid that comes out of the machine is considered a shot, since the machine pushes out the liquid at high pressure.

• A single shot or one shot of espresso is roughly 1.25 ounces of liquid.
• A double shot is roughly 2.5 ounces of liquid.
• A triple shot is roughly 3.75 ounces of liquid.
• A quad shot is roughly 5 ounces of liquid.

It doesn’t matter which espresso making method you use. Choose one method to make your shots and you’re one step closer to enjoying your at home Ube White Mocha!

How To Make an Ube White Mocha

1. Add White Chocolate Sauce to a drinking glass and then brew your espresso shots directly over the sauce. Stir the white chocolate sauce and espresso together until the sauce is fully dissolved.
2. Pour cold milk and ice into the cup, leaving room for the cold foam. Set the iced white mocha aside.
3. In a separate smaller cup, add in the cold foam ingredients: ube extract, milk, heavy cream. Froth the mixture together with a handheld milk frother until thick and creamy (about 15-30 seconds).
4. Pour the ube cold foam over the iced white mocha, and enjoy!

How Can I Make This As a Hot White Mocha?

The measurements are exactly the same for a hot version, the only differences are you use steamed milk instead of cold milk, and then don’t add any ice into the white mocha!

So combine white chocolate sauce, espresso, steamed milk, and top with the ube cold foam!

To steam milk, you can use a steam wand on an espresso machine, an electric milk frother, or you can warm milk on the stove/in the microwave and then froth the warmed milk with a handheld milk frother.

How Can I Make This Dairy Free?

• Dairy Free White Mocha: White Chocolate Syrup (instead of the sauce), espresso, dairy free milk, ice
• Dairy Free Ube Cold Foam: ube extract, barista style oat milk, soy milk

How Can I Make This Low Sugar/Calories?

• Use the Torani Sugar Free White Chocolate Sauce
• Use an unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk
• Combine 1/2 teaspoon ube extract and 3 tablespoons dairy free half & half for the ube cold foam

What Should I Do If My Cold Foam Won’t Get Thick?

1. Use a better milk frother! No, not all milk frothers are created equal. The best one I have tried is the BonsenKitchen handheld milk frother. It’s $6 on Amazon, and is essential for great at home cold foam!
2. You need more heavy cream! Sometimes if you eyeball your measurements, you might accidentally add too much milk and not enough heavy cream. Adding another little splash of heavy cream to your mixture should do the trick! If you substitue with a lower fat milk option like half & half or almond milk, your cold foam might get as thick because there’s not a high enough fat content. so keep that in mind. Use heavy cream or use a higher fat dairy free alternative like soy milk, chilled coconut whipping cream, barista style oat milk, or dairy free heavy whipping cream.
3. Your milk frother needs new batteries! Sometimes you may notice your cold foam doesn’t get as thick as it used to and you didn’t change anything. Simply swap out the old batteries with new ones, and I guarantee you’ll have thick cold foam again in seconds!
4. Make sure your coconut heavy cream is chilled. For a dairy free cold foam using coconut whipping cream, the cream HAS to be chilled or else it will not thicken. It should be chilled and thick like whipped cream, not room temperature and liquidy. Place the entire can in the fridge overnight or for a minimum of 4 hours before you froth it up.