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The traditional Japanese green tea known as matcha is no longer just a trend in specialty cafés, tea rooms, and restaurants, where it’s served as a pastry ingredient or even in ice cream. What happens when you mix it with beer?
It was in 2013 that many Japanese people began sharing their experiences combining beer and matcha on Twitter, but until that point, the trend in Tokyo’s cafés and bars was to mix beer with matcha tea separately.
The result was a smooth cocktail with a mild bitterness, a velvety texture, and a light, airy foam.
This unique combination quickly spread beyond Japan, reaching other parts of Asia, the Americas, and Europe.
A Surprising Combination
Matcha beer is a prime example of how the fruity, vegetal, and bitter notes of matcha interact positively with the cereal flavors and carbonation of beer.
This interaction challenges the idea that bitter plus bitter always results in more bitterness. Although hops and matcha may seem like completely different ingredients, when combined they create a surprising harmony of flavors.
What Makes Them Complement Each Other?
Both contribute a touch of bitterness to the blend in a complementary way: hops balance the sweet flavors of malt, while matcha complements the bitter note of hops, creating an interesting balance and complexity of flavor.
Both hops and matcha have herbal and fruity notes. Hops can have floral and citrus aromas, while matcha has vegetal and fruity notes that vary depending on its quality and origin.
These characteristics blend together, adding depth and different layers to the final flavor. In addition, matcha, being a fine powder, gives the beer a smooth, velvety texture, especially in the foam.
Matcha Beer Recipe
To make matcha beer, it’s recommended to use hazy, amber lager, or light lager styles, which bring just the right touch of grain sweetness to complement the distinctive bitterness of matcha, creating a balanced and refreshing combination.
Ingredients
- 250 ml of beer
- 100 ml of warm water
- ½ teaspoon of matcha powder
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add the matcha powder, pour in warm water (80°C / 176°F), and stir until completely dissolved, avoiding lumps
- Pour the mixture over an American pint glass or tulip glass filled with cold beer and gently stir with a cocktail spoon until the mixture is homogeneous
- Serve immediately and optionally garnish with a slice of lemon or a pinch of matcha powder on top.
Matcha Beers
But this blend is no longer confined to bars and cafés — several breweries around the world have started launching their own bottled versions of matcha beer.
One of the most notable is Japan’s Kizakura Matcha IPA, with aromas of mandarin, soft malty undertones, well-balanced, with a pleasant bitterness and a full body, standing out for the refined flavor of Kyoto matcha that lingers gently to the finish.
In the United States, several craft breweries are already experimenting, such as Stone Brewing, which launched a limited-edition matcha beer that was very well received by enthusiasts.
In Australia, the Matcha Made in Heaven brewery has created a full line of matcha tea-infused beers, known for their unique flavors and vibrant colors.
In Spain, Bierboi brewery launched Natsume, an IPA with Japanese matcha tea — an intense drink with sweet and slightly bitter notes that has won over both beer and tea lovers alike.
In addition, many Japanese pubs and bars, such as 29B Teahouse in New York, Kintan Japanese BBQ in London, and Monkey Trio in Manchester, as well as Japan House restaurants in Los Angeles, Berlin, and London, have made matcha tea beer one of their signature drinks.
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