Trial Matcha

Whisked matcha, by the cup and by the bag

Matcha is the whole menu here, not a line on it. Trial Matcha works with Japanese green tea in more than one grade: ceremonial matcha for drinking straight, and baking grade for the sweeter, milkier drinks and the desserts, with tea sold to take home as well as to drink in.

Separating the grades is the useful part. It means a plain whisked cup and a matcha latte are not coming out of the same tin, and it lets the counter pour each drink from the powder that suits it instead of pushing one product through everything on the board.

A small, calm room in Suthep

The room is small and airy, decorated with enough mirrors to make the most of the light, and the mood is calm and specialised rather than busy. It is set up as a tea counter rather than a café that happens to sell tea, so the pace follows the drink.

Trial Matcha is listed in Time Out's Matcha Guide, which places it in the wider conversation about where to drink matcha in Chiang Mai. It sits out in Suthep, on the university side of the city, rather than in the middle of the old town.

How to order

Order a plain matcha first if you want to judge the tea itself: no milk, no sugar, just the whisked cup. Then move to a latte if you prefer it softer, since that is where the baking grade earns its place.

If you like what you taste, buy the same grade to take home; that is the point of selling both by the cup and by the bag. The desserts are the other direction to take the visit, and they land better after the plain cup than before it.