Sawada Coffee in Chicago on Green St (near Greektown and Randolph) has pretty mediocre matcha, overall. However, they do have a roasted matcha latte worth trying.
Hojicha is Japanese green tea that has been roasted and ground into a powder. Essentially, it’s roasted matcha. (Kuro Tea, sister to Naoki Matcha, offers a decent roasted matcha for a decent price if you’re interested in trying it.)
I’ve tried the regular matcha latte both hot and iced a few times at Sawada and have finally sworn it off. But the Hojicha latte is a different story. So much that I’d even recommend it! IF you’re already at Sawada. My recommendation would be: Order an iced roasted matcha latte with oat milk. (It’s your call on whether or not to include the house-made vanilla syrup. )
The iced Hojicha latte is easily the best matcha I’ve had from Sawada. And it’s good. It would choose it before any other matcha from Sawada. But I would choose to make it at home over going to Sawada. Thing is, I’ve been consistently disappointed at how grainy their regular matcha lattes usually are. I even bought some of their powder and as it turns out, the powder itself is very grainy.
To be clear, this roasted matcha latte doesn’t taste anything like your usual matcha latte. And it’s nothing fancy in the world of roasted matchas. But it’s still good. And when iced, not too bitter or offensive in any way. In general, I found the Hojicha latte to be smooth. The taste nods toward chocolate with a hint of umami. It’s a dessert latte.
A word on the staff: Unsurprisingly, half of the bar staff continues to be terribly unfriendly, to the point that they seem pissed off that they have to make you a drink. Maybe they are? Or maybe I’ve just caught them on bad days. But I’ve had this experience multiple times at Sawada. Once, both staff were uninterested in working. (They were behind the bar talking while I stood at the counter waiting. We made eye contact but they were too engrossed in their conversation. They finally came walked over to the register when I asked if they were open.) Another time, they came to the cash register, but not a single word was spoken the whole time. (We made eye contact when I walked in. I said hello. They were silent. They never asked for anyone’s order. Just stood there punching the iPad screen and acting like an angsty teen. They never spoke a word to me or any customer, only to coworkers.) And the most recent visit before this one was exactly the same as today’s visit… the person working the cash register was actually very friendly. However, the person making drinks acted extremely existentially annoyed at the world and made no effort to respond to any cordial hello or thank you or a simple ask for a napkin because there were none set out.
Euggh… yes, bitching about people is just as annoying. But all of that to say… I’ve kind of given up on Sawada.
And as for their matcha, it’s about as palatable as most of the staff. But still, the iced roasted matcha is worth a try, if you’re there.
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