A Definitive Ranking of Princeton Matcha Lattes (+ Reflection)

Source: https://admission.princeton.edu/blogs/definitive-ranking-princeton-matcha-lattes-reflection Parent: https://admission.princeton.edu/undergraduate-student-blog

January 24, 2026

Claire Beeli '28

I'm Claire, a prospective English major and Creative Writing minor. I grew up in Long Beach, California, and I've loved my time as a Princeton student so far. Outside of class, I'm a Junior Editor for the Nassau Weekly and a prose reader for the Nassau Literary Review. I write and edit all kinds of literature, from journalistic pieces to subversive poetry and serialized short stories. When I'm not in a seminar or a club meeting, I'm usually ...

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I wrote this before realizing that a fellow blogger already wrote out a list of her favorite matcha lattes around campus. Check it out here, and consider my blog post a more obsessive sequel to hers.

Don’t waste your time or money. Drink good matcha!

First, however, ground rules.

There are a lot of cafes in Princeton, and I can’t (financially, time-wise) try all of them, so this is a list of the Princeton classics—the heavy hitters—and an analysis of their matcha latte’s strength. Ambiance counts a little bit; the quality of all other menu items does not. As a sophomore who’s been obsessed with matcha for a few years now, I feel qualified to make this assessment. My matcha credentials include that I make my own usucha (for the uninitiated, matcha tea powder and water, without milk) and lattes at home, and my favorite Christmas gift this year was three tins of rocky’s matcha (not sponsored, just delicious). I hope that any current or potential matcha-headed Princetonians will find this useful—I certainly would have at the start of my freshman year.

Places I didn’t include but which do serve matcha lattes: maman, Alfalfa, Wawa, MTea, Rojo’s Roastery, JS Foodies Tokyo, Fruity Yogurt Cafe, Belle Journee.

Kung Fu Tea

Solid bubble tea shop matcha latte, but it lacks complexity and the smoothness and richness I look for in really good matcha. Probably made from a powder or frother.

Illy

I’ve had this matcha once. It was strong, which I appreciated, but powdery and dry. I didn’t see the barista make it, but I assume it wasn’t with a chasen (whisk), since the matcha powder wasn’t fully incorporated into the drink. The matcha also didn’t taste like it was great quality—bitter and astringent. I’ve only had the hot latte, however, so the iced could be different. Latte art is a plus.

Tiger Tea Room

This matcha gets points for convenience, since the Tiger Tea Room is inside Firestone Library, but the latte itself isn’t all the way there. They use a generous serving of matcha in each (fairly large) latte and allow you to choose whatever milk you’d like, but the usucha is prepared (I would guess) with a frother or blender of some kind, not a whisk, so the consistency isn’t smooth and the flavor of the tea isn’t fully expressed. I’d also guess that their matcha is culinary grade or a ceremonial blend.

Junbi

I appreciate Junbi’s wide selection of matcha drinks and flavorings; my favorite is the cold brew matcha, which most cafes don’t offer. The shop has convenient self-checkout screens where you can order exactly what you’d like, with options for customization ranging from the drink’s sweetness percentage to the addition of toppings and special syrups. Their drinks are highly customizable, but the quality of the matcha powder itself (bland, bitter-ish flavor) leaves something to be desired, especially to a matcha purist.

Small World matcha latte and an Olive’s sandwich—my favorite combination before traveling from Princeton.

Small World

Small World matcha was, and is, probably the best-known matcha latte in Princeton. It’s a solid, deep green color, and it comes in the iconic Small World to-go cup that’s always peppered around campus, especially during exam seasons. The cafe itself is homey and has a warm ambiance; it’s a popular study spot for students.

The matcha latte itself is passable. There’s a solid amount of actual matcha in the drink, but most of its flavor is overpowered by the vanilla the shop shoehorns in. The flavor is also dulled by batching the matcha; it’s pre-made and stored in pitchers, so it’s completely un-customizable, and the matcha flavor isn’t as pronounced.

The Graduate matcha latte.

The Graduate

The tiny cafe stand in the lobby of the new, beautiful Graduate Hotel offers a surprisingly solid, plain matcha latte. The flavor of the tea isn’t as complex as some of the others on this list, but the latte is consistently tasty, and the ambiance is great—it was my go-to freshman year study spot, with wood paneling and library shelves lining the walls, old Princeton “beer jackets” framed between them, and a wealth of cushy armchairs. I would recommend ordering the matcha to stay and working on something you’ve been looking forward to.

Coffee Club

I’m proud to report that Coffee Club’s matcha latte has improved markedly in the past year. In my freshman fall, the matcha here was batched, frothed, and wholly uninspiring; now, it’s whisked to order, strong, and flavorful. I’m happy to enjoy its ascent, especially since Coffee Club is run by my classmates. Their two on-campus locations have different vibes, the NCW location being more modern and the Campus Club location having more of an antique feel, but both are great study spots. Their matcha is reasonably priced and customizable. My only complaints: it can be chalky, and the NCW location was out of lids for half of last semester, which made it difficult to tote my matcha latte with me to class.

Sakrid matcha latte with pistachio syrup.

Sakrid

Sakrid matcha is sourced from NYC’s Kettl, and it’s delicious. Whisked to order by hand with a chasen, and customizable—you can order it unsweetened, which is what I prefer, or with any kind of flavoring or milk you’d like, hot or cold. Sakrid also does seasonal special drinks; last fall they had an earl gray matcha, which was unbelievably good, and for a while they had a pistachio syrup, which you could use to order a pistachio matcha latte. The cafe is small but has a great interior, with beautiful wooden bars that are a dream to work or read on. My only qualm with Sakrid’s matcha is that there usually isn’t enough of it in the drink for my taste. If you prefer a stronger matcha, you’ll have to pay for extra, or visit the number one spot on this list…

Ooika Matcha

Princeton’s only speciality matcha shop and some of the best matcha I’ve ever had. The owners ship matcha leaves to Princeton from Japan to mill in-house—I’ve never heard of a cafe that does that before, even in my hometown of Los Angeles, which I would call America’s matcha latte capital. I was first introduced to Ooika by their stand at Princeton’s twice-yearly on-campus farmer’s market, which always has the longest line of anything there. Their cafe is the farthest walk from campus on this list, about twenty minutes, but it’s well worth it.

The interior is calming and minimalist. You’re greeted upon entering by the staff shouting “Irasshaimase!,” as they might in a cafe in Japan, and you’re presented with a wealth of options. Their matcha Americano is a particular favorite of mine, and their strawberry matcha latte, made with real preserves, is immensely popular. All of the drinks come unsweetened, but you can customize your own sweetness level by adding however much simple syrup you’d like after getting your drink. The drinks are expensive, but worth it, to me, for what you get—Small World’s matcha is the same price, but it’s dulled with vanilla, made in batches, and rigidly uncustomizable. Ooika is opening a new location sometime soon on Nassau Street proper, too, which will make it a more convenient option for students. I should also note that they only offer oat milk.

Reflections

Matcha has accumulated a poor reputation in recent months. It was tied first to “frivolous” young women who do things like take pilates classes and get facials, then to “performative males,” and more generally to the excesses of Gen Z and globalized youth culture.

It’s a fascinating cultural phenomenon. People in Japan don’t really, at least historically, drink matcha the way lots of people around the world now do, regularly and in latte form. Matcha latte culture, with all of its positive and negative associations, is a mostly American invention.

The fact that matcha is so widely available in the town of Princeton illuminates just how privileged we students are; we attend an elite university in one of the most prosperous nations on Earth. We have access to goods, ideas, and opportunities our ancestors hardly could have dreamed of—how would I have explained my matcha preferences, all of which can be fulfilled within a 20-minute walk of campus, to my grandmother in rural Germany?

Making this list, then, has reminded me of how much I appreciate Princeton as both a university and a town. The cafes and the matcha are the least of it. I love that I get the comfort of a small town and the resources and variety of a city, that I can be in a forest or in a busy town center in 10 minutes, depending on which way I walk from my dorm. Every day, I feel lucky to be here.