Anyone walking down the street won’t be surprised to see dozens of green, grassy beverages in the hands of passersby. The matcha latte, a drink made from finely ground green tea leaves and a hearty pour of milk, has taken the Bay Area by storm in recent years. Given the recent influx of matcha-related hype, one question has arisen — which local matcha latte is the best?
This question is what the Midpeninsula Post set out to answer. Last Sunday, we tried five of the many matcha hotspots in the Bay Area to determine where you should be getting your matcha. For the sake of our research, we tried to keep our orders consistent: Each drink was a hot matcha latte with regular sweetness and whole milk.
Marvel Cake
Our first stop took us to University Avenue in Palo Alto. Marvel Cake was quiet for a Sunday afternoon, and the storefront’s soft color scheme and chic aesthetic immediately drew us in. The matcha was a light green, slightly yellow color, and was served in an adorable light green cup with gold accents.
Upon our taste test, we found the matcha latte to be somewhat grainy in texture, with its sweetness overpowered by a bitter aftertaste that also dominated the overall taste of the drink.
Ultimately, while the drink and green index itself was subpar, the aesthetics of the store and the drink creativity brought Marvel Cake’s rating to a solid 32/50.
Maruwu Seicha
Based on how empty Marvel Cake was, one would assume that Maruwu Seicha, a matcha cafe just down the street, would be similarly quiet. One would be wrong. Immediately, we were greeted with a line snaking out of the door and even spilling around the corner of the busy shop. In the end, it took us 15 minutes to order and receive our latte.
The store’s interior incorporated traditional themes and a bright green color scheme with dark wood to contrast, along with several picturesque pastries on display. However, it was difficult to appreciate the store’s visuals with the sheer number of people crowding the store — with so many customers inside, we could barely move.
Yet, it was easy to guess why the store was so busy — this drink exceeded our expectations by a mile. With a smooth and rich texture, the matcha’s pronounced bitterness was nicely grounded by its overall slight sweetness and pleasant earthy taste. It had a pure green color, with a light but saturated tone that looked as good as it tasted.
Overall, while the wait time and crowded storefront were certainly an eyesore, the drink lived up to the hype, landing Maruwu Seicha at 34/50.
Junbi
Junbi Matcha & Tea instantly greeted us with a charming interior boasting daisy yellow walls, oak wooden ceilings and a boba-shaped stuffed toy one could pose with for a quick, Instagram-worthy photo. Junbi also offered decent seating and even an option to order via tablet — an introvert’s dream.
Ultimately, it took around seven minutes for us to receive our latte.
The drink itself was somewhat of a let-down. While the lightly saturated green drink was acceptable, the texture was slightly grainy, with mild flavors and subpar smoothness. While the not-too-bitter taste and sweetness complemented each other well, the taste was painfully average. That being said, Junbi offered the best bang for our buck with a little over seven dollars for 16 ounces, which created a slight redemption in its performance.
Overall, Junbi was okay: Not the cafe we’d seek out, but nevertheless a decently reliable option for grabbing a grassy latte on the go.
Bluestone Lane
Bluestone Lane is a peaceful, quaint cafe on the outskirts of downtown Los Altos, and while it doesn’t stand out upon approaching, one’s first steps inside will leave them wondering why they haven’t previously visited the picturesque shop.
We instantly took note of the beachy wooden floors and color scheme, as well as the windows and array of seating options that created a pleasant open space. Its mild customer activity and coastal feel were soothing, reminding us of a seaside cafe.
As gorgeous as the store was, the matcha itself let us down. With an overpowering bitter taste, mild earthiness and a nearly-brown color, Bluestone Lane’s matcha had us questioning if we’d accidentally ordered black coffee.
Overall, Bluestone’s ranking for taste was low, but the fanciful vibe of the cafe bumped up the score by a couple of points.
Satura Patisserie
We walked into this small, pastry-themed store in downtown Los Altos expecting to get another grassy latte before we heard the dreaded words no one wishes to hear — “Oh, sorry, we’re out of matcha.”
Instead, we opted to purchase a simple matcha cream puff — still on theme with the article, but also another item that falls under Satura Cakes’ primary menu choices: pastries.
This matcha cream puff was nothing short of delicious. The cool, light cream inside the crispy puff was silky and subtly sweet, with notes of earthy matcha and rich milk. The airy pastry itself was sugary and crunchy, its taste reminiscent of a shortbread cookie. The only thing stopping this pastry from being perfect was the lack of a unique flavor and its too-subtle matcha taste.
Overall, for a spur-of-the-moment purchase of a matcha-themed pastry, Satura Cakes takes the cake for this excellent dessert.
After four hours of drinking matcha and passing judgment, despite our numerous losses, we cultivated a solid ranking of matcha lattes in Palo Alto, Mountain View and Los Altos.
Maruwu Seicha and Satura Cakes ended up in a draw for first place, with their unmatchable flavors and exquisite textures. Junbi was a runner-up, Marvel Cake a close third and Bluestone Lane falling into last place. With that, the Midpeninsula Post’s ranking of just a few of the many matcha shops in the Bay Area is concluded.
