Kyoto: Okada Japanese Tea Ceremony with Matcha and Sweets
Experience a traditional Japanese tea ceremony in a tatami room in Kyoto. Enjoy a bowl of Matcha, learn the art of whisking, and savor seasonal sweets.
Stone-ground powdered green tea, whisked with hot water in a tea bowl. Kyoto's tea merchants have refined matcha grades since the 13th century.
Matcha entered Japan from Song China in 1191 through the Zen monk Eisai, who planted the first tea seeds at Kosanji Temple in Kyoto's northwest. The Uji region south of Kyoto became Japan's matcha heartland; tea merchants Ippodo (founded 1717), Marukyu Koyamaen (founded 1704) and Nakamura Tokichi (founded 1854) still grade and grind the country's reference matcha. The modern matcha-cafe wave starting at Tsujiri Gion in the 1990s exported Kyoto matcha-as-dessert globally.
6 editor picks for Matcha in Kyoto, ranked by editorial score. All Kyoto signature dishes · Matcha across every city.
Ippodo Kaboku Tea Room ★ 4.6
karasuma-kawaramachi · Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto 604-0915, Japan
Ippodo's tasting room on Teramachi, Kyoto, opened by the tea merchant founded in 1717. Located in Karasuma Kawaramachi. Order the ceremonial-grade matcha set.
Kagizen Yoshifusa ★ 4.6
gion · Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto 605-0073, Japan
An 18th-century wagashi maker on Shijo-dori with a tatami tea room behind the storefront. Tsukimi rabbit jellies and the most quoted kuzukiri in Kyoto.
Marukyu Koyamaen Nishinotoin ★ 4.4
karasuma-kawaramachi · Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto 604-8277, Japan
Marukyu Koyamaen's Kyoto tasting room on Nishinotoin, run by the Uji tea house founded 1704. Sit in a sashed garden tatami room and order matcha by farm.
Yugen Kyoto ★ 4.4
karasuma-kawaramachi · Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto 604-0865, Japan
A modern matcha cafe and tasting room on Sanjo-dori, Kyoto. Matcha and hojicha by farm, plus the city's best Kyoto-style cold milk-matcha programme.
Nakamura Tokichi Kyoto Station ★ 4.4
kyoto-station · Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto 600-8555, Japan
The Kyoto Station outpost of the 1854 Uji tea-house Nakamura Tokichi. The Maruto parfait, matcha or hojicha, is the depachika's standing all-day queue.
Gion Tsujiri ★ 4.3
gion · Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto 605-0074, Japan
The Gion outpost of the 1860 Uji tea-merchant Tsujiri, opening for matcha parfaits and matcha soba until 20:00, the latest such room in Higashiyama Kyoto.
Learn to cook it, or eat it with a guide
Matcha makes more sense with someone from Kyoto explaining it. These are the classes and tours we have checked, with booking links.
Taste Matcha with a local in Kyoto
Kyoto: Nighttime Zen Meditation and Matcha Tea Experience
Experience the tranquility of a nighttime visit to Keishunin Temple in Kyoto. Try your hand at zazen meditation, enjoy a cup of matcha tea, and savor a traditional Jap...
Kyoto: Matcha Tea Latte making experience
Matcha tea latte-making experience. You use a bamboo whisk to mix the matcha tea. Simply pour the prepared matcha into a glass of milk to create matcha latte, which yo...