Best Matcha Brands for Lattes

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Getting the wrong matcha (powdered green tea) can result in a costly mistake. Here are the matcha brands I’ve personally tried and like for green tea lattes.


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Matcha for Lattes

Want to buy matcha to make matcha latte at home but don’t know where to start with so many matcha choices out there?

I’ve tried SO SO many and I can say with confidence that these are the best matcha brands out there.

What to Look For When Buying Matcha for Lattes

  • Comes from Japan
    Real matcha comes from Japan. Some powdered green teas come from China but those are inferior products and should be avoided.
  • Price
    Look to spend $20 – $30 for matcha to be used in recipes or lattes. You don’t want the most expensive matcha for lattes.
  • Bright color
    You want to get the brightest green within that price range.

The more expensive the matcha, usually it means the quality is better.

Expensive matcha is almost neon green in color, super vibrant.

Tea Sommelier’s Tip: Really expensive matcha is wasted on lattes since the milk and sweetener mask the subtle flavors.

My Matcha Pick:

Encha Ceremonial Organic Matcha

Photo Credit: amazon.com

Encha’s organic ceremonial grade matcha is what I use for lattes and matcha recipes. The price, quality, and color can’t be beat. Plus, you can get free shipping with Amazon Prime.
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Harney & Sons’ Matcha Senjunomukashi (Thick Grade)

Photo Credit: harney.com

Harney & Sons have three different grades of matcha and the one I prefer is the Senjunomukash. The color is a nice bright green and the quality is right for the price.
Harney’s offers free shipping without a minimum, which a rare thing.
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Ippodo Tea’s Horai

Ippodo is a company based in Japan that has been selling Japanese green tea for almost 3 centuries. With the most variety and grades of matcha available (10!), Ippodo knows matcha and green tea in general. For lattes, I like the Horai.
One drawback is that their online shop is a bit tough to navigate.
View Recipe

In Pursuit of Tea’s Wako Thin Tea Grade

In Pursuit of Tea sells Japanese matcha brand Marukyu-Koyamaen, a company that has been producing matcha for multiple generations. I really like their Wako Thin Tea Grade for lattes and recipes since the color is so bright and pretty.
View Recipe

Culinary Grade vs Ceremonial Grade

  • Labeling matcha culinary grade or ceremonial grade is only done outside Japan and it’s purely for marketing purposes.
  • In Japan, there are multiple matcha grades (or levels of quality) since they have so many different types. Notice that the matcha brands sold directly by Japanese tea companies don’t say Ceremonial or Culinary Grade but have different names for each level of matcha grade.
  • Matcha labeled ceremonial grade in the US is higher in quality and price. It should be for drinking straight, only with water.
  • Matcha labeled culinary grade is lower in quality and price. It should be used in recipes and lattes; anytime it’s mixed with other ingredients.

About Jee Choe

Welcome! I'm a certified Tea Sommelier and a self-proclaimed bubble tea and iced tea master. I'm all about making tea EASY and DELICIOUS.

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13 Comments

  1. Have you tried Matcha Bar? Would love your thoughts if you have! I have a packet from them, and when it’s out I will try one of these!

    1. Hi Stephanie, the list of recommended matchas would also apply to matcha lattes made with plant based milk.

  2. This is such a great resource. A vegan matcha latte is my daily ‘get up and go drink of choice and I’m always looking for options regarding reputable brands. Thank you!! I also signed up for the cheat sheet. Looking forward to it. 🙂

  3. This was so interesting thank you for this! For the past year and a half I have been making myself a Matcha latte every morning but I use Feel Good Organic brand that I buy at Costco. I may have to dig a little deeper into my wallet and try another brand. I always wondered what the difference was between the grades.

  4. Thanks for the great information 🙂 I personally love Ippodo’s Sayaka-no-mukashi (40g) which I use to make the traditional straight matcha w/ just hot water. Ippodo fun fact: the 20g version called Horai-no-mukashi. It is contains the same tea as the Sayaka… but named by a different tea master family. Also, I find that their Japanese website is cheaper than their US website. I will be trying out the Encha Latte Grade Organic Matcha. I make my matcha latte with hot water and Kerrygold butter (the butter gives the matcha a lovely creamy frothy texture) using a blender. I find that I don’t need to add any sweeteners.

  5. Thank you! I just order something from Japan LOL. Do you know where I can taste all these flavors near San Diego, OC or LA?

    1. Hi Sylvia, sorry, unfortunately I can’t be of any help — I have no idea where you can get matcha on the west coast.

    1. Hi Lauren, I tried their matcha years ago so I don’t remember how it tasted. I’m planning on getting their matcha for some upcoming recipes so I’ll be trying it out then!