Even with all the ever-changing food trends that social media has to offer, matcha has consistently remained a popular drink over the last five years. However, truly good matcha that isn’t too sweet and tastes like grass can be quite hard to find and recognize within local coffee shops. In order to enjoy quality matcha, many of us have resorted to making it at home. I have personally been a fan of matcha for the last few years, even taking it upon myself to test out homemade matcha recipes, try matcha at different coffee shops and taste all types of matcha during a trip to Japan. But on a normal day, if you are as lazy as me, having a perfect go-to matcha latte can be such a gift. So I took it upon myself to try and find the best local places to find matcha.
Joe & The Juice:
While more publicly known as a juice place, Joe’s has a surprisingly amazing matcha latte. Unlike many generic coffee shops, Joe’s matcha can be enjoyed sweeter or less sweet depending on how you customize your latte. One of my favorite attributes of Joe’s matcha lattes is how creamy and well-matched the matcha and milk in the lattes are. The color of the matcha is perfect as well: Not too light of a green but not too dark, indicating they use the right amount of high-quality matcha.
Another thing I highly recommend when it comes to Joe’s matcha is their flavoring options. During the summer season, Joe’s offers lavender and blueberry flavors to pair with your matcha. This is how I was first introduced to them and became absolutely obsessed with their lavender matcha latte during the summer. Even though they don’t have those flavors year-round, Joe’s vanilla matcha lattes are always available. If you are a die-hard vanilla fan with your matcha, you can even go the extra step and order your latte with vanilla milk as well!
Overall, I’d say Joe’s is my top local pick when it comes to matcha. The consistency, flavor and variety beat all other local matcha.
Peet’s Coffee:
In comparison to other popular coffee shop franchises, Peet’s offers a much better matcha latte. Unlike the “grass” flavor that low-quality matcha in other mainstream coffee shops has, the matcha at Peets has genuine quality in its taste. Peet’s also offers a protein matcha latte, which doesn’t have a strong protein powder taste, making it equally as delicious. So if you are looking for ways to increase your protein intake, as well as enjoy a refreshing beverage, I’d definitely recommend Peet’s protein matcha latte.
However, Peet’s matcha tends to be a bit bitter without a sweetener added in. While traditionally matcha is actually a much more bitter tea than many realize, it is not typically enjoyed that way. So if you do prefer a sweeter matcha latte, I would definitely advise you to order it with sweetener since the majority of the time, the baristas won’t always add sweetener to the beverage.
Apart from making sure to adjust the sweetness, Peet’s matcha lattes are enjoyable both hot and cold and can also be customized by adding any of their syrup flavor options. My personal preference is to have it with no flavoring since the matcha itself is already so delectable, but adding vanilla for an extra kick is definitely a good idea if you are trying to be more adventurous.
Boba Bliss:
While it may not seem to be an obvious choice, many boba shops, like Boba Bliss, have amazing matcha. While Boba Bliss’s matcha is a bit on the sweeter side, the sweetness levels are adjustable, and added flavoring allows anyone to enjoy their matcha latte according to their taste. Boba Bliss offers a strawberry matcha, mango matcha and brown sugar pearl matcha in addition to the regular. I am personally a big fan of fruity pairings with my matcha lattes, so my go-to tends to be the mango matcha as well as the original. In comparison to coffee shops, I do find the milk-to-matcha ratio to be heavier on the milk, which makes it creamier but also waters down the matcha flavor a bit. However, depending on your preference, this may be a better thing for you. And obviously, if you are a boba fan, adding pearls definitely enhances the flavor and adds more sweetness if you are craving a sweet treat.
Boba Guys (Honorable mention):
Personally, this is the most controversial add on to my list. In my opinion, I find Boba Guys to be an extremely mediocre boba place. However, the first time I tried their strawberry matcha (without the boba of course), to my surprise, I loved it.
While the matcha flavor is not extremely pronounced, I find the strawberry puree a good balance with the matcha. I also enjoy how they use the strawberry puree to add sweetness, curbing it out more than other matcha places do. So while I would not necessarily recommend Boba Guys as a boba place in itself, I do appreciate their strawberry matcha latte and find it to be another go-to local choice.
Overall, finding genuinely tasty and authentic matcha is such a struggle among the watered-down and generic matcha lattes out there. While I know South Bay contains many more diverse matcha lattes, sometimes you just want to enjoy a nice and tasty matcha latte within a 15-mile radius. So if you’re ever craving a matcha latte, I hope you use this list to help advise you!
