Most of the “matcha” peddled in this city is overpriced, pulverized grass cut with sugar. The matcha latte has become an aesthetic trend, saturating Toronto with cafes chasing the green dollar. Few respect the centuries-old tradition this vibrant tea commands.
The true difficulty lies in locating the few dedicated spots that handle the powder with craft, source it with integrity, and deliver flavour that stands out.
Some places emphasize tradition through sourcing and technique. Others showcase matcha as a treat, where its bitterness thrives against sweet profiles. Some modern cafés may favour aesthetics, but they still shape the culture.
Toronto is lucky enough to house every type of matcha institution. Read on to find out which ones are really worth your dollar.
Where to find the best matcha in Toronto
This is the intelligence you need for Toronto’s volatile, trend-driven beverage scene. Avoid wasting your money on diluted sugar water.
This is where you go when you are serious about tasting the best matcha in Toronto.
1. 18feet
Signature Dish: Matcha latte with strawberry cheong. The high-quality, earthy matcha blends seamlessly with the store’s own Korean sweet fruit preserves (aka cheong).
Vibe Check: Minimalist, industrial, and calm, set to soft Korean indie music. This is a lifestyle cafe building customer loyalty through intentional branding.
Addresses:
Why It Made the Cut: They’ve perfected their classic matcha lattes and fruit-focused drinks, including tonic matcha. You’ll want to taste everything on the menu. Be sure to visit on the 18th of each month to get a free upgrade to the next size up.
2. Monte Bakery
Signature Dish: Classic matcha latte. The ratio of milk to sugar to matcha is perfect. They make other varieties, like strawberry and coconut, but the classic will always be our favourite.
Vibe Check: Intimate and local. At any of the three locations, expect service with a smile in a small and welcoming shop.
Addresses:
Why It Made the Cut: They’re famous for their croissants, but their matcha is not to be slept on. It’s authentic, grassy, and perfectly green without being bitter. Try pairing your drink with a croissant or a matcha-infused pastry (they rotate daily, but we’ve seen matcha flan and iced cronuts).
3. Icha Tea
Signature Dish: Traditional whisked matcha (Usucha). Authentic, uncompromised preparation of pure, hot matcha whisked vigorously for a foamy, earthy shot.
Vibe Check: Zen temple meets a modern downtown oasis. Serene, focused, and ideal for contemplation or quiet work.
Address: 235 Spadina Ave. Unit 4 and 996 Queen St W
Why It Made the Cut: This spot demonstrates an uncompromising commitment to sourcing. The owners travel to Japan to study with tea masters, importing some of the finest grades directly. Their matcha tastes earthy, smooth, and authentic.
4. Matcha Matcha
Signature Dish: Coconut pandan matcha latte. A break from tradition, this is an inventive, highly visual flavour bomb of sweet, tropical Coconut Pandan and rich matcha.
Vibe Check: A sleek, lounge-like “matcha lab” built entirely around the green tea concept. Expect long lines, high energy, and a space designed for visual content creation.
Address: 407 Church St
Why It Made the Cut: They defined the matcha trend in Toronto. Their marketing team deserves recognition for building a strong brand identity. They push the boundaries of tradition with creative, aesthetically-pleasing flavour combinations.
5. Project Seoul
Signature Dish: Signature blended matcha creations: Trend-driven, highly photogenic matcha drinks that define the current Korean/Japanese beverage fusion wave. It’s a necessary stop to track the scene’s evolution.
Vibe Check: Trendy Kensington Market aesthetic. Heavily promoted on social media, representing the current wave of Korean and Japanese beverage fusion.
Address: 355 Spadina Ave
Why It Made the Cut: It is an essential stop for charting the real-time evolution of Toronto’s beverage scene. Its prominence in a high-traffic area ensures it is a reliable indicator of current youth-driven drink culture and innovation.
6. Tsuchi Café
Signature Dish: Classic hot matcha: A smooth, unsweetened pour that achieves perfect balance, avoiding the teeth-aching sweetness common elsewhere, forcing you to confront the pure flavour.
Vibe Check: Minimalist Japanese simplicity. They are a plant-based establishment that focuses primarily on achieving a balance of taste. It’s connected to a dedicated Sando Bar, offering savoury counterpoints to the tea’s purity.
Address: 688 College St
Why It Made the Cut: They deliver a product that is consistently smooth and balanced. Crucially, their preparation appeals directly to a sophisticated palate. The pairing potential with the sandos elevates the experience beyond just the drink.
7. The Library Speciality Coffee
Signature Dish: Sweetened hot matcha latte. High-quality, satisfying matcha delivered with relentless attention to presentation. They are consistently featuring aesthetic, impressive latte art, validating the baristas’ precision.
Vibe Check: Narrow, highly minimalist black-and-white interior. A dream space for the detail-oriented, where every touch feels intentional, refined, and fresh.
Address: 281 Dundas St W
Why It Made the Cut: They treat the presentation as seriously as the product. The baristas use high-quality matcha and deliver aesthetically beautiful drinks. This visual dedication signals a deep respect for the craft itself.
8. Forget Me Not Coffee
Signature Dish: Classic matcha beverage. A clean, unpretentious execution of the classic drink, benefiting directly from the cafe’s specialty coffee ethos. No frills, just disciplined, high-quality craft.
Vibe Check: Quaint and compact. They take their coffee and matcha seriously, extending that precision to all menu items.
Address: 506 Adelaide St W and 102 Ossington Ave
Why It Made the Cut: This is a true hybrid that combines the best of coffee and green tea. The dedication to quality across the board means their matcha avoids the pitfalls of generic cafe options.
9. Hale Coffee
Signature Dish: Unsweetened matcha latte. A meticulous, dairy-forward preparation that is intensely creamy and notably unsweetened, proving the powder quality is high enough to stand on its own without sugar.
Vibe Check: Roaster-first environment. Functional, unpretentious, prioritizing the ingredient process over decoration.
Address: Various locations
Why It Made the Cut: They are experts in coffee bean grinding and extraction, and this precision translates seamlessly to matcha preparation. Their matcha is noted for its super creamy texture and lack of required sweetness, confirming they use a high-quality, non-bitter powder and a disciplined approach.
10. Another Land Coffee
Signature Dish: Matcha latte. An authentic, specialty-focused pour proving that meticulous sourcing and disciplined preparation are not exclusive to the downtown core. Their Strawberry Matcha Latte is also extremely popular.
Vibe Check: A slightly whimsical, nostalgic spot. Discreetly tucked away on an upper plaza level.
Address: 4714 Yonge St
Why It Made the Cut: This spot brings high-quality matcha to the north end of Yonge. Its cozy yet minimal vibe combined with earthy matcha and yummy baked goods make for a perfect afternoon out.
11. Dark Horse Espresso Bar
Signature Dish: Iced Ube Matcha Coconut. A layered revelation of tropical Ube and coconut notes that enhance, rather than mask, the rich matcha base. Visually stunning, structurally sound, and worth every cent.
Vibe Check: Specialty coffee titan. Industrial, busy, with multiple locations that cater to the serious caffeine consumer.
Address: Various locations
Why It Made the Cut: Their ability to integrate bold flavours without destroying the tea is masterful. The fusion is respected because the matcha itself is high quality.
12. Rooster Coffee House
Signature Dish: Slightly sweetened matcha. An approachable, intentionally less-bitter preparation, using just a minimal touch of cane sugar to act as the perfect entry point for the purist novice, without descending into artificial sweetness.
Vibe Check: Comfortable, community-focused cafés known for their reliable, easy-going environments.
Address: Various locations
Why It Made The Cut: They offer a true matcha experience that is sweetened with only a touch of cane sugar. This spot successfully serves as a necessary bridge for the matcha novice, providing a clean path away from aggressively sugary starter drinks.
13. Himalayan Coffee House
Signature Dish: Sweet, creamy matcha. A comforting sip that leans into sweetness. The non-negotiable proof of their craft lies in the photo-worthy, visually complex latte art.
Vibe Check: Cosy, brick-walled, comfort-focused space. They’re known for their affordable prices and their mission to encourage slowing down and living in the moment (there’s no Wi-Fi).
Address: 2552 Yonge St
Why It Made the Cut: They specialize in a sweet, creamy, and easy-to-sip format. While catering to a taste profile that embraces sweetness, the consistent delivery of adorable latte art proves an undeniable commitment to presentation.
14. Nutbar
Signature Dish: Iced matcha latte. The definitive health-conscious choice. Their iced lattes use pure, high-quality powder that thrives in a clean-ingredient environment, delivering a powerful green fix without superfluous additives.
Vibe Check: Clean, bright, and overtly focused on wellness, health, and clean ingredients.
Address: Various locations
Why It Made the Cut: Nutbar has quickly established itself as a frontrunner for iced matcha lattes. With locations scattered across Toronto, it’s the perfect grab-and-go option that is guaranteed to be high-quality and without excessive additives.
15. Neo Coffee Bar
Signature Dish: Matcha latte. A creamy and balanced pour made with high-grade Uji powder, designed to be velvety smooth whether ordered hot or served over ice.
Vibe Check: Industrial chic meets meticulous Japanese standards. It represents a reliable blend of Western café function and Eastern dedication to quality control.
Address: Various locations
Why It Made the Cut: They explicitly use high-grade Uji matcha from Kyoto and maintain reliable, non-clumpy execution across multiple high-volume downtown locations, defining the gold standard for consistency.
16. % Arabica
Signature Dish: Iced matcha latte. A luxurious, perfectly balanced iced sip, leveraging the combination of real Kyoto green tea powder with sweetness. They even offer it in bottled form.
Vibe Check: International minimalist luxury. Expect a premium, high-volume experience in a white, steel, and intensely controlled aesthetic.
Address: Multiple locations, including the Eaton Centre and Union Station
Why It Made the Cut: A global brand backed by explicit use of high-quality Uji, Kyoto matcha. Its high-visibility placement in major hubs establishes the benchmark for accessible, luxury matcha consumption.
17. Goat Coffee Co.
Signature Dish: Strawberry matcha with cold foam. An elaborate, highly customizable creation using Nishio powder, house-made syrup, and topped with a cloud of strawberry cold foam.
Vibe Check: A localized, neighbourhood cafe. They focus on aggressive flavour experimentation and high-concept customization, rejecting a basic downtown aesthetic.
Address: 893 Pape Ave
Why It Made the Cut: They’re a leader in experiential and flavour innovation within the Toronto market. Their unique creations, built upon a high-quality base, keep locals coming back for more.
Save this list before you forget
Stop scrolling through aesthetic feeds and start experiencing the best matcha in Toronto. Find your next fix now.
Separating fact from green fiction
True value comes from technical understanding, not hype.
Is matcha just fancy green tea powder?
Absolutely not. Standard green tea leaves are steeped and discarded. Matcha is consumed as a powder, meaning you ingest the entire leaf. This is only possible because true matcha is cultivated in a completely different manner. The leaves are shade-grown for several weeks before harvest, increasing their chlorophyll content and L-Theanine. Post-harvest, they are deveined, destemmed, and then slowly stone-ground. This meticulous process of shading, de-stemming, and stone-grinding is what defines matcha, yielding its unique umami, vibrant colour, and smooth texture.
Is “Ceremonial Grade” real or just marketing?
It is marketing fluff. In Japan, no governing bodies or rules regulate the terms “Ceremonial Grade” or “Culinary Grade.” They are subjective labels used by Western vendors to inflate prices or segment usage. The truly important indicators of quality are origin (look for Uji or Nishio, Japan), harvest (First Harvest/Spring leaves yield deeper colour and umami), and processing (shading and slow stone-grinding). Ignore the romanticized grade names; demand sourcing transparency.
What is the ideal water temperature for brewing?
Precision is non-negotiable; brewing quality matcha with water that is too hot will scald the delicate leaves and release excessive bitterness. The water temperature must be strictly controlled between 70°C to 80°C. Serious establishments know that different types of matcha require different heat levels to extract optimal flavour, umami, and texture.
Does matcha contain caffeine, and why do I not crash?
Yes, matcha contains a significant amount of caffeine. There are roughly 35–70 milligrams per serving, comparable to a small cup of coffee. However, the experience is distinct due to the presence of L-Theanine, an amino acid unique to the shaded green tea leaves. L-Theanine slows the absorption of caffeine, which promotes sustained focus and calmness without the nervous jitters or subsequent crash associated with coffee.
Can drinking matcha help with weight loss?
No. Matcha is not a miracle cure. While it is rich in antioxidants like EGCG, which may support metabolism and fat oxidation, drinking matcha alone will not lead to significant weight loss. To maximize the health benefits, consumption must focus on pure, high-quality powder, avoiding the high sugar and artificial additives often found in pre-mixed or overly sweetened lattes. It is a powerful supplement to a balanced diet and active lifestyle, nothing more.
Drink Like You Mean It
The Toronto matcha market is past its infancy. The scene has matured beyond the initial “green powder in milk” phase and now offers sophisticated choices, demanding that consumers pay attention to origin, craft, and execution.
The best matcha spots in the city have distinguished themselves either by upholding rigid Japanese tradition or by introducing bold, globally inspired flavours that still respect the underlying ingredient.
You now possess the definitive list to navigate Toronto’s green matcha landscape. Stop settling for diluted, sugary imitators. Find the pure, bitter-sweet truth.
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