👎 Sawada Coffee: Where Matcha Dreams Go to Die

Let me start by saying, I’m not one to bash a place that pioneered matcha culture in Chicago. Sawada Matcha was the OG, and we all know it. But just because your reputation precedes you, it doesn’t give you a free pass to serve subpar matcha drinks. (Context: For a very short time, the coffee folks ran an exclusively matcha shop downtown called Sawada Matcha. It was beautiful, but trying too hard to be trendy. And it died. And now Matcha Cita carries that torch.)

The matcha at Sawada Coffee is…decent at best. I’ve had it more than a few times, and I’ve kept going back thinking I’ve missed something or just caught them on a bad day or or or or or. But I think I’m giving up on Sawada. Sometimes it’s weirdly grainy, maybe they didn’t mix it well enough. (But then I bought a take-home pouch of their matcha powder and, yea, it was oddly a little gritty and just wasn’t very good.) Other times, it’s so bitter I feel like I’m drinking a liquid form of the “why did the chicken cross the road” joke.

Sure, they’ve been doing this matcha thing for a while, but I’m sorry to say, experience doesn’t make up for bad lattes. I mean, I have years of experience tripping up the stairs, but that doesn’t mean I’m any good at it. (Actually, I guess I am good at the tripping part… hmmm… I think I just burned myself… similarly to when I drink the scalding hot matcha at Sawada.)

Alright, not my best or most comedic review, but it still stands that if you’re looking for a matcha pick-me-up, skip Sawada Coffee and head straight to the source: the nearest park where you can pick some grass and hope for the best. OR better yet, just check our list of the best places to find matcha in Chicago.

OH! ALERT! If they still have it, you should actually get the Hojicha Latte at Sawada! It’s better than their regular matcha. Also, my friends tell me they have good coffee, but also my friends should know better than to drink coffee in the first place.