In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, we are here to help you find your matcha. We might not be expert match-a-makers, but we sure love a caffeinated beverage and a pun or two. So, join us as we explore Claremont and help you find something (or someone) truly tea-riffic! We tried matcha from six different places around Claremont so you don’t have to and we are here to spill the tea on where to find the best one.
For those of you who don’t know, a matcha latte is made from finely ground green tea leaves that are whisked into water and poured over milk. Originating from East Asia, matcha has gained traction among college-aged students over the past decade given its slow caffeine release and health benefits — such as its high concentration of antioxidants — as compared to coffee.
Whether you need a quick drink right after class or want to make a whole afternoon for you and your matcha (highly recommend), we have all the information you’ll need.
We took great care in making sure our matcha tasting process was controlled for as many variables as possible.
At every cafe, we ordered a small, hot matcha latte with simple syrup and oat milk. We thought that this would allow us to gauge the true taste of the tea at every location — after all, it’s a popular order among college students that can be easily adapted per personal taste.
We based our ratings on four criteria: price, distance, sweetness, greenness and grassiness. We then averaged our respective ratings out of five stars. Whether you like your matcha a bit bitter or prefer a more sweetness, we certainly won’t judge.
So, without further ado: it’s tea time.
Rev’d Up Coffee & Classics
Price: $4.65 (Original price of $4.25 plus tax)
Overall Averaged Rating: 3/5
A perfect match-a for: Someone walking to Trader Joe’s who needs a quick pick–me–up along the way for a low price.
Breaking down the drink: This was our cheapest matcha and, for the price, it delivered. This tea was foamy, sweet and had a strong green tea flavor. Although it was slightly bitter and grassy, it was smooth and coated the tongue. The only downside to this drink was that as we got through more and more of the drink, it got grainier. However, given the price and the high-quality vibes at Rev’d Up, this wasn’t that big of a drawback.
Iron & Kin
Price: $6.25 (original price was $5.25, but the oat milk cost an extra dollar)
Overall Averaged Rating: 5/5
A perfect match-a for: A true matcha connoisseur. The strong, high-quality tea flavor, bright green color and smooth texture made for a truly brew-tiful matcha experience. It also earned an extra point in our book, as it was the only drink we had that was made with latte art. And, let’s be honest, the aesthetics and vibes at Iron & Kin are immaculate — a perfect place for a first date, in our opinion.
Breaking down the drink: This matcha was a true green color and had little to no gray tints due to the oat milk. It smelled fairly grassy and tasted rather bitter, but that’s what you sign up for when you order matcha. The drink was one of the smoothest that we had and was not scalding hot — we hypothesize that this may be attributed to their method of production. The barista poured some matcha concentrate from some stock that they had made beforehand into the cup, before adding sweetener and frothy, steamed milk with little to no foam. Although the drink smelled grassy, it didn’t taste as so; it was fairly bitter and not too sweet. The matcha didn’t coat the tongue as much as a few others we tried and we thought that made it seem more high quality as the powdery nature of matcha powder was not as noticeable. Iron & Kin was the busiest cafe we visited and the majority of customers in front of us also ordered matcha — it was truly matcha madness!
Nosy Neighbors
Price: $6.50 (Base price since they did not upcharge us for milk or sweetener)
Overall Averaged Rating: 5/5
A perfect match-a for: An avid coffee drinker looking to switch to a healthier, greener alternative. We found that the creamier, sweeter matcha latte here was more palatable for someone who isn’t yet used to matcha’s strong green tea flavor.
Breaking down the drink: Nosy Neighbor’s matcha latte was sweet, creamy and had a subtler tea flavor as compared to many of the other drinks we tried. This tea was not bitter at all and had little to no aftertaste. Although the tea was not flavored with any other syrups, the smooth drink tasted almost nutty at times due to the oat milk and simple syrup used. For a die-hard coffee fan who is taking a stroll through the village, this would be a good spot to visit for a matcha latte, but if you are a matcha connoisseur looking for a strong tea flavor, this may not be the place for you. We would also like to note that this is the base price for a matcha latte at Nosy Neighbors — they did not upcharge us for milk or sweetener like other cafes, however, it is in the higher price range if you are not ordering non-dairy milk.
Norema
Price: $5.75 (We paid $0.25 for almond milk)
Overall Averaged Rating: 2.5/5
A perfect match-a for: A tea drinker who’s not too keen on this latte business.
Breaking down the drink: Norema offers a matcha that leans into deep tea flavors. We know that this may not be for everyone — even between just the two of us, we disagreed greatly. We doubted whether it constituted a matcha latte considering that there wasn’t much milk — the drink was more along the lines of a hot matcha americano with a splash of milk. As a disclaimer, we ordered this matcha with almond milk since they do not have oat milk available. All in all, the tea used was of good quali-tea and the strong taste came through, but, if you are looking for a sweet and creamy matcha latte, this may not be the place for you. Some may find the strong matcha flavor to be bitter while others may rejoice in the grassiness. As a bonus, we noted that Norema used a traditional bamboo matcha whisk to create their drink.
Last Drop Cafe
Price: $6.25
Overall Averaged Rating: 2/5
A perfect match-a for: Someone looking to try a ‘hole-in-the-wall’ cafe with loads of food options to accompany their matcha.
Breaking down the drink: At first glance, this matcha had a dark brown-green color and was slightly frothy. We could smell the tea and a bit of nuttiness too. It was not bitter but not very creamy either. It didn’t have a smooth finish and we thought it was reminiscent of powdered hot chocolate. Overall, there wasn’t anything special about this matcha. For the price, we recommend you seek out another matcha on this list.
Lucky’s Coffee Roasters
Price: $7.25 (Base price of $5.75 since oat milk cost $1 and vanilla syrup cost $0.50)
Overall Averaged Rating: 4/5
A perfect match-a for: A Pitzer or Mudd student with a pret-tea penny to spare as this was the most expensive drink we tasted. For Pomona, CMC and Scripps students, take the walk into account before deciding — a trip to the village may be cheaper and faster for a matcha of the same quality.
Breaking down the drink: This was the priciest drink in the lineup, so we wondered whether it was worth it. The matcha had a nice green color with a lot of foam. Although we asked for simple syrup, Lucky’s only offers vanilla syrup so we settled for that. It struck a balance between being slightly milky, sweet and bitter and we quite enjoyed the aroma. As Pomona students, we are green with envy for those Pitzer and Mudd students who live closer to this cafe. This was our first time visiting Lucky’s and we plan on making the trek again to take advantage of their calm studying-friendly environment.
Anuradha Krishnan PO ’24 is TSL’s Arts & Culture Associate and, along with Louis Burns PO ’24, spends way too much time in Estella and way too much money at the Motley.