A layered roasted-tea and banana iced milk for café menus
Amber hojicha poured down the side of the glass settles over a layer of cane-sugar milk and a smooth banana base, giving this hojicha banana milk its soft, two-tone gradient. It’s built on three easy parts — muddled fresh banana, milk shaken with cane sugar syrup, and a roasted hojicha tea base floated on top — so each sip shifts from creamy banana to toasty, nutty roasted tea. Fast to assemble and easy on the eye, it’s a comforting milk drink that fits a café or bubble tea shop’s menu year-round.
Hojicha — Japanese roasted green tea — is the character here: low in bitterness, with a warm, nutty, almost caramel note that sits naturally with banana and milk. The fresh banana gives body and a mellow sweetness at the base, the cane sugar milk rounds everything out, and the hojicha layer on top keeps it from turning flat or one-note. Because the tea comes from a hojicha concentrate — hojicha flavor powder dissolved in warm water — the strength is easy to set and repeat: more concentrate for a bolder roast, less for a gentler, milkier cup.
The practical side is where it earns a menu spot. Batch the hojicha concentrate ahead (hojicha flavor powder to warm water at a set ratio), keep it chilled at 0–4°C, and use it within about eight hours for the best flavor; the ratio scales cleanly, so you can prep for a busy day in one go. With the banana muddled, the milk and syrup shaken, and the concentrate ready, each cup comes down to layering — banana base, cane-sugar milk, then the hojicha poured slowly down the wall for that amber gradient.
Ingredients
Hojicha Tea Base — 40 ml
Fresh Banana — 40 g
Cane Sugar Syrup — 30 ml
Fresh Milk — 150 ml｜Ice Cubes — ~80% full
Hojicha concentrate: Hojicha Flavor Powder 20 g + Warm Water 100 ml. Store at 0–4°C, best within 8 hours; scale the ratio as needed.
🍹Directions
Muddle the banana — in the serving cup, muddle the fresh banana into a smooth puree base.
Add ice — fill the cup about 80% with ice.
Blend the cane-sugar milk — shake the fresh milk with cane sugar syrup, then pour gently over the banana base.
Layer the hojicha — slowly pour the hojicha tea base down the inside wall for an amber two-tone gradient; serve right away.
🏷 Tips
Build a Range with the Same Layered Method
Keep the muddle–shake–layer build and swap the fruit or the tea — a strawberry or taro base under the same cane-sugar milk, or a different roasted or green tea on top. For more layered milk drinks, see Taro Latte or Matcha Mochi Milk Tea.Want Hojicha on Its Own?
If you’d rather show the roasted tea without the banana, see Hojicha Latte — the same hojicha base carried straight with milk, for a cleaner roasted-tea cup.Add Toppings for More Texture
Drop in tapioca pearls or other toppings to turn it into a fuller bubble tea; re-check your ice and liquid room so the layers still read.Want This on Your Menu?
This drink runs on a hojicha flavor powder base and cane sugar syrup — both available wholesale from Hojalicious. We’re a U.S.-based all-in-one bubble tea supplier with spec-stable ingredients for cafés and drink brands. Contact us for wholesale supply →
