Matcha has recently taken the world be storm, but what is matcha tea and where can I find the best matcha near me?
What is Matcha Tea?
Matcha tea is a powdered green tea from Japan. Its’ origins go back to China, where it began as a less fine powder. Buddhist monks brought matcha to Japan in the 1100s, and it is heavily associated with Buddhism. Monks were interred in matcha to assist with meditation, likely due to the tea’s caffeine content and relaxing qualities. In the 1400s and 1500s, matcha tea became popular with the samurai ruling class with the rise of tea ceremony. Tea ceremony became a way to demonstrate status and virtues among the samurai class. Traditional tea ceremony is a group activity, drinking matcha tea straight while eating a sweet treat to balance out the natural bitterness in matcha.
In Japan, Matcha is primarily associated with tea ceremony and tea rooms, though there are many matcha flavored commercial sweets and drinks.
Why is Matcha so Popular Now?
Matcha has appeared in common chain drink menus for years and has steadily growth in popularity in the United States since 2011, in December of 2024 it sky rocketed in popularity and there has been a boom ever since. Some of the reasons for the rise in popularity are the ease of making matcha- you just need a bowl, whisk, and matcha tea-, it’s flavor versatility- matcha isn’t as potent of a flavor as coffee and therefore takes kinder to syrups-, and it’s social media ready color.
What Makes Good Matcha?
While each individual has their own taste preferences, one thing that makes matcha good matcha is a lack of astringency. Often times people think of it astringency as bitterness, and while they’re not quite the same thing, an overly bitter or astringent taste is an indication that the drink is not successful. Good matcha can have a bitterness to it, but it should still be pleasant to drink. Astringency could be the quality of the matcha itself, or just the brewing temperature issue.
People often look for a vibrant green matcha powder and drink as a way of determining the quality of the tea. While the color of the matcha can indicate oxidization and therefore a lack of freshness, taste is the ultimate decider.
Mixed beverages such as matcha lattes and sweetened drinks can often hide some of the bitterness and astringency, making the quality of the matcha less important.
Best Matcha in Houston
Like a majority of America, Houston has also been caught up in the matcha boom. While you can find matcha in most coffee and boba shops, it might not be the matcha experience you’re hoping for. Here are some of our favorite matcha shops, boba shops, and coffee shops for you to get your matcha fix.
Matcha Forward Shops
These are matcha shops in Houston. These shops focus on matcha, rather than coffee or boba.
Sweets Oyatsu
11146 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77042 (Google Maps)
Sweets Oyatsu is first on our list because it is the only Japanese matcha shop in Houston. Currently inside Houston’s only locally owned Japanese grocery store, Daido, Sweets Oyatsu began as a pop-up selling Japanese sweets such as ichigo daifuku, dango, and dorayaki. The owner is a Kyoto trained confectionary and has excellent fresh Japanese sweets. Sweets Oyatsu has classics, like matcha lattes, hojicha lattes, strawberry lattes, and their seasonal drink to accompany their sweets. I highly recommend stopping by to get a traditional Japanese sweet and a drink.
CลCHA
8578 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77063 (Google Maps)
CลCHA is a new matcha shop that serves matcha and Vietnamese coffee. Their name comes from the ‘co’ in coffee and the ‘cha’ in matcha. Matcha tea is their primary focus, and they offer 3 types of matcha teas, with 3 different styles, traditional, latte, and cold whisked matcha.
CลCHA has a wide variety of special flavored lattes as well, such as their Yuzu Tart Matcha, matcha layered with a yuzu citrus cloud, and Coco Cloud Matcha, a matcha cloud over fresh coconut water.
isa
1540 W Alabama St #100, Houston, TX 77006 (Google Maps)
ise is a new matcha tea shop, currently located next to Waffle Bus off West Alabama. They serve matcha speciality lattes with their house made syrups.
Their menu features classic matcha lattes as well as unique drinks like New Yorker Matcha, a cookie dough matcha with miso cold foam and cookie crumbles, and Banana Bread Matcha, a matcha latte with banana bread syrup, topped with cinnamon. isa is a walk up window type shop, they only have outdoor seating. It’s the perfect place to sit with friends and pets on a pleasant afternoon.
Boba Forward Shops
Tea Top
9889 Bellaire Blvd E203, Houston, TX 77036 (Google Maps)
23119 Colonial Pkwy C-7, Katy, TX 77449 (Google Maps)
While many boba shops serve matcha, Tea Top is really the top of the list for our favorite boba shop matcha. Tea Top’s menu has classics like a matcha milk tea, matcha latte, and strawberry matcha. Like any good boba shop, they have their own customization options including cheese foam, tapioca pearls, red bean, pudding, and various popping boba.
Coffee Forward Shops
Houston has a growing coffee scene with someon really good matcha options. Here are some of my favorite coffee shops to get matcha.
Kohiko
4617 Austin Pkwy, Sugar Land, TX 77479 (Google Maps)
Kohiko is an extremely popular Japanese-American run coffee shop in Sugarland. Their mission is to provide guests with Japanese flavors and Japanese hospitality. This coffee shop has excellent specialty coffee, serving different single origin roasts, and also excellent matcha lattes.
Kohiko’s speciality drinks are often a combination of matcha and espresso, like their Moshi Moshi latte with espresso, banana, brown sugar, matcha, and milk and Kenny’s Cappuccino with espresso, matcha, red bean paste, genmaicha syrup, and milk.
Third Place
420 E 20th St Suite A, Houston, TX 77008 (Google Maps)
Third Place is the day time counter part to James Beard Best Chef Texas semi-finalist restaurant, JลชN. Since opening their doors to the light of day, Third Place has been the hot spot of the Heights and the place to get unique mixology based matcha drinks.
Third Place is not the place to get a matcha latte, but instead experimental mixed matcha drinks, like their signature Third Place Matcha, made with coconut milk, pineapple syrup, and lime and their Cowboy Tea, hojicha, oolong tea syrup, and tamarind jarritos. An extremely unique feature of Third Place is their rotating chefs, with different pop-ups with some of Houston’s best and most unique chefs. I also highly recommend their house made pastries.
Fifth Vessel Coffee Co.
104 N Main St, Houston, TX 77002 (Google Maps)
Fifth Vessel Coffee Co. is a top class specialty coffee shop located in downtown Houston. While Fifth Vessel Coffee Co. is primarily a multi-roaster servicing coffee shop, they also have an extensive matcha menu that lives up to their coffee’s reputation.
Under the “Rocky’s Matcha” section of their menu, they serve classic matcha lattes and mixed drinks like their Cardamom Matcha, with cardamom syrup and a cardamom cold foam, and their Halo Houjicha, with hojicha, ginger, and apple cider sugar.
Pop-Ups to Look Out For
Houston has had a surge of matcha pop-ups. Here are some of the ones to keep an eye on!
ensล
Find their latest pop-up on Instagram
ensล is a pop-up with unique matcha drinks and a strong following. They currently have a residence at Norigami, a Japanese restaurant, but also do pop-ups around Houston.
As a pop-up, their menu is flexible but they have developed over 10 different menu items. They serve drinks like Honey Jasmine Matcha, with matcha, jasmine infused almond milk, jasmine syrup, and honey, Pandan Matcha, with almond milk and pandan, and ensล’s Cara Cara Orange Creamsicle Matcha Latte, with cara cara orange juice, coconut water, and sweet cream. ensล is the perfect place to check out for their seasonal matcha drinks!
Be sure to check back as we add more recommendations to our list!
Comment and tell us your favorite matcha spot in Houston!
