Coco’s matcha 코코즈마차

Coco’s matcha has been on my list for awhile. Matcha isn’t very common in Korea. You’re more likely to find green tea then matcha. Green tea or 녹차 in Korea you can find almost anywhere. While both of matcha and green tea are considered healthy their process and taste is a bit different. Green tea is the leaves while matcha is a bright green powder made from the best of the best green tea leaves. Matcha is also suppose to lower stress levels. (You can read more about matcha in my Kew and Leaves post.)

Coco’s matcha uses matcha from two sources, Jeju and Kyoto. They offer it in a variety of ways. You could have it in a coffee style where it’s a quick espresso size shot of matcha or you can get it in a latte form. The latte’s are what I wanted to try. They had delicious sounding options and were layered. My friend and I ended up trying 3 of them. She got the pumpkin spice matcha (a seasonal option) which I tried, I got the chocolate matcha which she tried, and then later (since we were there for several hours) we both got caramel matchas. There were two we didn’t end up trying, one of which is probably their most iconic drink as it is a bright pink color with the green matcha on top. However it didn’t sound appetizing to either of us being that it is hibiscus and beet root. Hibiscus is fine but I didn’t know how I’d like that coupled with beet root and matcha.

Because the drink is layered you get the full flavor of each individually unless you mix it. Then when it blends I found that the matcha overpowered the rest of the flavor. I loved the pumpkin spice latte which tasted more pumpkin spice then the Starbucks pumpkin latte’s they had in Korea this year. (To be fair it was Korean pumpkin and they never promised us pumpkin spice.) The chocolate one was really good but once again when I mixed it the chocolate flavor was over-powdered. The caramel one had cinnamon in it and it reminded me vaguely of horchata, until I mixed it and it was gone. Why did I mix it then you’d ask? Because I found the pure matcha on top to be a bit too strong. I like matcha a little sweet and with some milk. I find it’s usually too strong on its own for me. I did try it on it’s own and found it bitter.

The way they make the matcha is quite fun as well, they have taken a bamboo whisk and attached it to a mechanism similar to a drill (in sound as well) to make the preparation of the matcha faster and less taxing on the baristas. This does however make it rather noisy whenever someone orders one. Also note that you’ll have to let them know which matcha you want when you order, either Kyoto or Jeju.

Coco’s matcha is closed on Mondays and is open 11am until 9pm. You can check out their instagram here. Please note that it’s also on the second floor and there is not a ramp or elevator.