In recent months, several new matcha cafes have opened across Berkeley. As a result, it’s been getting harder (sighs while clutching my Labubu) to find the best matcha to drink while reading Atomic Habits and listening to the newest Laufey album in peace. So put on your tote bag and grab your wired headphones, and let me take you on a tour to find the most performative matcha you can get in Berkeley!
To keep reviews consistent, all drinks reviewed from these cafes will be a standard matcha latte.
#5: De Matcha’s Matcha Latte
Original Photo By Jordan Shen
Price: $7.50
Location: 2315 Telegraph Avenue
A recent arrival of 2025, De Matcha is one of the new kids on the block and sits in the middle of Telegraph right outside campus. Its proximity to Sproul and the large proportion of tea in its drinks have caused De Matcha to quickly gain popularity among many students.
While there is more tea overall in De Matcha’s matcha latte, the taste of the matcha is slightly diluted, and you can clearly taste the milky flavor. Despite this, the matcha latte isn’t overly sweet, so you still taste a hint of the bitterness from the matcha. As a drink chugger, I often find De Matcha’s matcha latte to be perfect for a sunny, hot day where a nice, large cup of cold tea could save me from the heat.
The shop itself has a quaint aesthetic and boasts a wide variety of drink options, but its high accessibility to campus and the lack of a strong matcha flavor in their drinks rank De Matcha as the least performative compared to the other matcha places on the list.
Original Photo By Jordan Shen
#4: Binge Coffee House’s Matcha Latte
Original Photo By Jordan Shen
Price: $6.50
Location: 2199 Bancroft Way or 2528 Durant Avenue
Opening up in late 2024, Binge Coffee has established itself as a presence among the many cafes surrounding the UC Berkeley Campus. They’re known for their consistency in quality, variety in drinks, and cozy interior. It’s a favorite among many students at Berkeley.
The tea is mixed well with milk and sweetener to produce a well-balanced, silky matcha. It’s not overly creamy, but at the same time, it isn’t quite bitter. The matcha at Binge has a very fine texture, and there are no clumps or traces of powder in their drinks. Finally, it looks amazing, and every drink coming out of the kitchen is picture-worthy for your aesthetic Pinterest board.
The drink itself is excellent, and we give it a full five stars. However, we’re ranking places based on being the most performative. With its fame among students, multiple locations close to Berkeley, and welcoming atmosphere, Binge isn’t niche enough to be considered performative anymore, which is why it is ranked lower on this list. Additionally, Binge not only markets itself as a matcha cafe, but also as one that sells Vietnamese Coffee, Banh Mi, and other small snacks.
Original Photo By Jordan Shen
#3: Asha Tea House’s Matcha Latte
Original Photo By Abby Wang
Price: $6.50
Location: 2086 University Avenue
Asha Tea House might be the oldest cafe on this list, having opened in 2012. Located on University Avenue, it has stood the test of time against the other matcha locations so far, offering crafted drinks and a modern, raw atmosphere focused on sustainability through their bamboo straws and compostable cups.
The matcha flavor is significantly more pronounced in Asha Tea House’s matcha lattes, and the tea is slightly less sweet compared to those of Binge Coffee and De Matcha. However, the matcha latte had a slight, almost grainy texture, which could be due to many reasons, such as the quality of the powder, the level of cream they used, or how much the powder was whisked beforehand.
Asha Tea House’s emphasis on quality and its highly aesthetic atmosphere (focused on environmentally sustainable sourcing of tea and eco-friendly products) ranks it decently in terms of performance. The rough texture of the drinks, as well as their location in the middle of downtown, are the only elements holding it back from being truly performative.
Original Photo By Abby Wang
#2: Yume Mori’s Matcha Latte
Original Photo By Jordan Shen
Price: $6.80
Location: 2319 Shattuck Ave
With a soft opening earlier in the semester, Yume Mori entered the Berkeley scene on a quiet corner at the edge of Bancroft and Shattuck. The store offers several matcha and hojicha drinks, as well as matcha-themed dessert crepes. Walking in, you’re met with an open kitchen with tea being made in front of you, and a cute, spring-like aesthetic fills the entire store.
The matcha latte at Yume Mori tastes like it was made with detail and care, with the fine powder being mixed completely with the drink, producing no clumps or overpowering cream flavor. The matcha flavor is also very pronounced, giving the drink a slight bitterness while remaining completely smooth. At the same time, the drink isn’t too sweet, and the cafe provides you with the option to add syrup to your own liking after your order. Finally, switching to oatmilk costs no extra money, so as a lactose-intolerant person myself, I find the store to be extremely accommodating.
Yume Mori is truly a top contender for one of the most performative matcha locations at Berkeley. The soft, indie charm of the store is combined with smaller details that aim to enhance the experience of their matcha. The relatively smaller sizes of their teas are supplemented by a much thinner straw, so chuggers (like me) drink the matcha more slowly, and the option to add your own syrup prevents overly sweet drinks from being served.
Original Photo By Jordan Shen
However, our true #1 contender for the most performative matcha is:
#1: Forest Tea’s Matcha Latte
Original Photo By Jordan Shen
Price: $6.95
Location: 2628 Shattuck Ave
Originally starting as a pop-up cafe called Three Tea Bowls, Forest Tea finally opened its first location in Berkeley earlier this year, in July. Calling it a cafe would honestly be an understatement, and I found my experience at Forest Tea to be closer to watching a performance. The aesthetic inside Forest Tea feels curated to almost feel like an art exhibit, with the smell of incense and matcha hitting you while watching your matcha being mixed by the baristas in the center of the shop.
The matcha at Forest Tea is the most balanced by far, having just enough matcha to deliver intense flavor in every sip while being creamy enough that the tea is light and enjoyable to drink. The cane sugar sweetener in the tea isn’t overpoweringly sweet, allowing the drink to taste vibrantly rich. Additionally, Forest Tea offers no dairy in any of their lattes, instead offering oatmilk or house-made cashew milk. To have this level of significant quality in every aspect of their latte, Forest Tea may have figured out the formula for the perfect matcha for everyone.
Berkeley boasts several new, amazing matcha locations, and they’re fit for every kind of customer, whether it’s a student running to class and grabbing a hojicha from De Matcha, a group of friends studying together at Binge Coffee, an afternoon date with matching drinks at Asha Tea house, or a quick stop by Yume Mori on your way home from school.
Yet with its former status as a pop-up, its refined yet small, minimalist space, and its high-grade matcha carried out flawlessly and beautifully in their drinks, Forest Tea takes the cake for being the most performative spot to get matcha at Berkeley. It has the strengths of many other places on this list, such as environmental sustainability in their compostable cups, dairy-free milk without extra cost, and professional, visible matcha preparation, all wrapped up neatly into one single cafe.
Original Photo By Jordan Shen
So, sling on your tote bag, put your wired headphones in, and, with Clairo on loop, may your next sip of matcha be as intentional (and aesthetic) as your caption for its post!