Sorate

Uji matcha, sencha and gyokuro

The tea comes from a family-owned farm in Uji, Kyoto, and that sourcing decision organises everything else at Sorate. Ceremonial matcha leads, with sencha and gyokuro covering the classic Japanese green tea categories beside it. The named preparations get more specific: a 12-hour cold brew sencha for the chilled option, and a seasonal sakura matcha latte for the sweeter end. There is no espresso programme competing with any of it. The brand runs two New York teahouses, in SoHo and Flatiron, and opened in the city in 2020.

A quiet room built around ritual

Stillness is the design brief. Both rooms are minimalist teahouses rather than broad-service cafés, closer to a Japanese tea setting than a New York coffee bar, down to tatami mats made from rare shichitoi reed. That material choice tells you how seriously the format is taken.

The teahouse also sells the ritual to take home: matcha and hojicha teas, accessories, kits and sets, ceramics, gifts and incense. The counter is retail as much as hospitality, so a visit can end with the equipment to repeat it in your own kitchen.

Start with cold brew sencha or ceremonial matcha

For a first order, take one of the two drinks that best express the sourcing. Ceremonial matcha is the most direct introduction to the Uji-grown leaf, whisked and unmixed, while the 12-hour cold brew sencha is the clearest named preparation for something chilled, its long extraction putting it well clear of a generic iced tea.

Sencha and gyokuro are the next step for anyone who wants the leaf side beyond matcha, gyokuro being the shaded, sweeter and more concentrated of the two. The sakura matcha latte is the seasonal sweet order rather than the house statement. Provenance, ritual and Uji green tea are the three things this place is organised around, and a bowl of ceremonial matcha shows all three at once.