One coffee trend, looked at honestly: what it is, how it tastes, and whether it’s worth your money. A new one every Tuesday.
All trends →Espresso poured over a matcha latte sounds like a drink that can’t decide what it wants to be. It turns out that’s exactly why it works.
Most of us grew up picking a side. You were a coffee person or a tea person, and the other camp was faintly suspicious. Dirty matcha ignores that argument entirely. It’s a matcha latte with a shot of espresso on top, and it has been one of the steadiest café trends of 2026.
In a country that drinks as much tea as we do, a drink that lets both habits share a glass makes a lot of sense.
What it tastes like
Good matcha is grassy, a little savoury and gently bitter, with a sweetness that shows up at the end. Espresso is roasted, darker and heavier. On paper they should fight. In the glass, the milk softens both, and you get layers: green and fresh at the bottom, roasty and deep at the top, and something in between once you stir.
If you sip it unstirred, each mouthful changes as you go down the glass. That’s half the fun.
A note on caffeine
Matcha has caffeine of its own, so this is not a gentle drink. A teaspoon of matcha plus a shot of espresso adds up to roughly what you’d get from two small coffees. Great at 10 in the morning. Probably not a 6 pm order if you’d like to sleep.
How to make an iced dirty matcha
- Whisk the matcha: sift 1 teaspoon (about 2 g) of matcha into a bowl, add 50 ml of water at around 75 to 80°C, and whisk until there are no lumps and a light foam forms on top. Boiling water scorches it and makes it bitter.
- Build the glass: fill a tall glass with ice and add about 150 ml of cold milk.
- Add the matcha: pour it gently over the milk.
- Finish with espresso: pour a single shot slowly over the back of a spoon so it floats on top. No espresso machine? A strong moka pot coffee works fine.
For a hot version, whisk the matcha the same way, add it to steamed or warmed milk, then pour the espresso over the top. You lose the visible layers but gain something comforting for a cold morning.
Which matcha to buy
Ceremonial-grade matcha is made for drinking on its own with water, and it’s expensive. Once you add milk and espresso, much of its subtlety disappears. A decent latte or culinary grade does the job here. What matters more is freshness: matcha should be bright green, not dull olive, and it fades quickly once opened, so buy small tins and keep them sealed in the fridge.
Who it’s for
If you love matcha but miss the weight of coffee, this is for you. If you’re a coffee drinker who has always found matcha a bit like drinking a lawn, the espresso gives you something familiar to hold on to while you get used to it. And if you just like ordering the most interesting thing on the board, it photographs beautifully too.
Coffee person, tea person, or happily both? If you’ve tried dirty matcha, tell me whether you stir it or drink it in layers.
Read next: The Power of Presence: Insights from a Café in Tokyo
