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.