A good matcha latte deserves a place on every self-respecting cafe’s menu. More than just a replacement for green tea, matcha can give you the same caffeinated boost as a coffee without the burnout or mid-afternoon crash that usually accompanies it. Combining that same matcha with the creamy format of a latte is just one more way that you can enjoy this earthy, somewhat herbal beverage. But not every cafe nails its matcha latte. That’s why you should always grab a matcha latte from Blue Bottle Coffee when you have the chance.
Chowhound recently took 10 coffee chains and ranked their matcha lattes from worst to best, with the option from Blue Bottle Coffee emerging as the victor over the likes of Starbucks, Dunkin’, Peet’s, and others. Regarded as being a smooth drink that doesn’t rely on sweetness, Blue Bottle Coffee’s matcha latte achieved a balance of having the unique taste of the matcha present without it being overpowering. Likewise, the cafe didn’t let its whole milk completely mask the high-quality, ceremonial grade matcha within the latte. For a matcha latte that ticks all the necessary boxes, Blue Bottle Coffee should be on your radar.
How do you rate a matcha latte?
When you break it down, there really isn’t much that goes into a standard matcha latte. Usually nothing more than matcha powder, milk, and a sweetener of some kind, it would seem that you can’t really go wrong with any matcha latte if they’re this simple. But that’s where you’d be mistaken. Since there are so few ingredients in a standard matcha latte, each ingredient (and the amount of each ingredient) plays a huge role in determining the quality of the overall product. Optimizing your ingredients and your ratios is what ultimately sets Blue Bottle Coffee’s matcha latte apart from Paris Baguette’s, which has the worst matcha from a coffee chain.
In ranking each coffee chain’s matcha latte, the reviewer makes sure to take specific note of the quality of matcha used. It’s nigh on impossible to recreate matcha’s flavor with subpar ingredients, so the matcha being used plays a critical part. Sourcing your matcha from the matcha-centric Uji region of Japan is definitely a good start, and that’s exactly what Blue Bottle Coffee does. From there, the use of whole milk only helps to create a rich and silky texture. And before you know it, these select ingredients combine to create a matcha latte that blows away the competition. Blue Bottle Coffee’s matcha latte is proof that a little really does go a long way.
