Matcha at a Coffee House: Hot, Iced, and Blended

Ask for a matcha latte on Anna Maria Island and most coffee counters can only do it one way. At our coffee, tea, smoothies and drinks menu, matcha shows up three different ways — hot, iced, or blended straight into a smoothie — so the drink actually adjusts to the day instead of the other way around. We’re a coffee house first, which means the espresso machine and the matcha whisk get the same attention.

What matcha actually is

Matcha isn’t just green tea ground finer. According to Wikipedia’s entry on matcha, the tea plants are shade-grown for two to three weeks before harvest, then steamed, dried, and ground on stone mills into a fine powder — a slower, more deliberate process than the loose-leaf tea most people know. Traditionally that grinding happened by hand in a single-purpose stone mill; today’s producers still turn the stones slowly, in cool rooms, so the heat of grinding doesn’t cook off the flavor before it ever reaches a cup. Because you whisk the whole leaf into your cup instead of steeping and discarding it, matcha also carries more caffeine than a typical steeped green tea, thanks in part to that shading step. That’s part of why it holds up next to coffee on our menu instead of getting filed under “tea and more” and forgotten.

Hot Matcha Latte vs. Iced Matcha Latte

Our Hot Matcha Latte is matcha whisked with textured, steamed milk — the same technique behind a good cappuccino, just swapping the espresso shot for that vivid green powder. It’s the one to order on a slower morning, when you want something warm in hand but you’ve already had your coffee for the day.

The Iced Matcha Latte is the same base — matcha and milk — poured over ice instead. It’s the better call once the island heats up in the afternoon, and it’s become the more popular of the two orders at the counter simply because Anna Maria Island is warm more months than it’s cold. Both are available any time we’re open, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, so there’s no wrong hour to ask for either one.

Matcha Madness: the smoothie version

If you’d rather drink your matcha cold and blended, the Matcha Madness smoothie takes the same matcha and pairs it with pineapple, banana, our house veggie blend — spinach, red and green Swiss chard, chicory, escarole, lacinato kale, and turnip tops — and almond milk. It’s $10 for the 20 oz. house size, and it reads more like a produce-aisle smoothie than a dessert, which is the point: the matcha adds an earthy edge that keeps the pineapple and banana from turning the whole thing into candy.

It’s one of four smoothies on the house list, and the only one built around tea instead of fruit or chocolate as its base flavor — worth knowing if you’ve tried our other smoothies and want something that tastes less sweet and more green. It comes in the same 20 oz. size as the rest of the lineup, so it’s built to be a real breakfast or midday stop rather than a small taste on the side.

Which one to order

If you’re new to matcha, start with the Iced Matcha Latte — it’s the most approachable of the three, and the cold masks less of the flavor than you’d think. If you already know you like the taste, the Hot Matcha Latte shows it off with nothing else competing for attention. And if you want matcha as a meal rather than a drink alongside one, Matcha Madness is the one that actually fills you up.

However you take it, all three are on the menu every day we’re open. Stop by 5350 Gulf Drive in Holmes Beach, or give us a call at 941-251-3681 if you want to check what’s on the counter before you make the trip.