Green tea lovers, here are 4 places to get excellent matcha desserts around Seattle

If you’ve ever seen a bright green drink on the counter of your local coffee shop, you’ve probably seen matcha – the current star of the tea world, hailed for its health benefits and ability to deliver caffeine without the nervousness.

The finely ground green tea leaves come from countries such as Japan and China and are traditionally combined with hot water to make Matcha. In recent years, tea has grown in popularity on this side of the Pacific – and now there are matcha-flavored products (ice cream, donuts, cakes, lattes, and even cocktails!) At Cafe.

Some may find the grassy taste of matcha a little too earthy on its own – but transformed into a dessert, along with the usual base flavors of vanilla and cream, it becomes an interesting bicultural offspring between European desserts and Asian flavor profiles.

Here are some of my favorite places to get matcha desserts in Seattle, sorted from the lightest green tea flavor to the strongest.

Dochi

11 am-5pm Monday-Friday, 11 am-6pm Saturday-Sunday; 600 Fifth Avenue S., Seattle; within Uwajimaya; Dochicompany.com. (There is also a location in Tukwila at 17348 Southcenter Parkway – in Lams Seafood Market.)

If you’ve ever seen the fun bubble-like donuts floating around on a Seattle food influencer’s Instagram profile, you’ve probably seen Dochi’s donuts. Dochi stands for “Mochi Donut” and is a Japanese version of the traditionally fried American donut. The bubble ring shape of these sweet treats makes them easy to share among friends (or yourself, no judgment here).

I recently tried the Matcha s’mores Dochi ($ 2.75) which had a pleasantly sweet flavor profile that reminded me of a classic vanilla glazed donut. The Dochi carries a hint of marshmallow and graham crackers from the decorations attached to the bubble ring with the light green matcha frosting. With a soft and chewy interior (thanks to the rice flour used), this Matcha Dochi is the perfect introduction to Matcha desserts.

Hiroki

12 p.m. – 4 p.m. Tuesday 12 p.m. – 6 p.m. Wednesday-Friday 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday; 2224 N. 56th St., Seattle; instagram.com/hirokidesserts

Hiroki is a particularly quaint bakery in Wallingford. Jazz music wafts from the blue brick walls of the tiny café onto the street, and tables and wicker chairs line the entrance in true Parisian style. With overflowing flower baskets and a chalk card in the open air, Hiroki lures guests inside before they have seen the glass display full of cakes, cheesecakes and pastries.

Of course, I tried the green tea tiramisu ($ 6.75), their signature matcha dessert. With its delicate creaminess, this tiramisu has a hint of cream cheese taste together with the earthiness of green tea. Its light, melt-in-the-mouth quality makes it the perfect matcha dessert for anyone who wants a less overriding green tea taste.

TRACE market

daily 7 a.m. – 2 p.m. 1112 Fourth Avenue, Seattle; tracemarketseattle.com

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Matcha is often mixed with nutty flavors, a technique that highlights its earthy profile. The Matcha Coconut Scone ($ 4) from TRACE Market is well balanced. The sugar and glaze on the top soften the natural bitterness of the matcha, and the coconut flakes add a unique structural element. This scone can easily be enjoyed with a Matcha Latte with almond or coconut milk to complement its base flavors.

Nana’s green tea

daily 11 am-8pm; 1007 Stewart Street, # 103, Seattle; nanasgreenteaseattle.com

Think of Nana’s Green Tea as the ultimate mecca for matcha lovers. From almost any type of matcha in drink form (I’m talking hot, chilled, mixed, or even combined with soda or ice cream) to various different matcha brews, Nana’s has it all.

Jessmin Lau, owner of Nana’s Green Tea in Seattle, brought the Japanese franchise to the US in 2018. According to Lau, the brand is so popular in Japan that it resembles Starbucks in America. Today the Seattle location is unique in several ways – it’s the only Nana’s in the US, and it’s the only Nana’s in the world where you can find matcha cream puffs.

And find a matcha cream puff that I made. On a recent visit to Nana, I tried two desserts – the matcha puff pastry and the matcha roll cake (both $ 5.75). The Matcha cream puff is an explosion of Matcha taste. The top of the puff pastry is dusted with green tea powder, which highlights the corners and edges of the crispy biscuit crumble crust. Inside the cream puff, the flaky layers of dough form a delicate and airy pocket, perfect for filling with light green matcha cream. The matcha cream carries the traditional bitterness of green tea as well as a hint of its oh-so-familiar grassy profile and nutty undertones. A bite of matcha cream and puff pastry is balanced and filling. If you’re a serious matcha lover then the matcha cream puff is for you – of all the desserts I’ve tried, it had the strongest green tea flavor.

The matcha roll cake is satisfying to look at and even more satisfying to eat. Although it looks dense, the matcha cake turns out to be light and fluffy. The sweet cream strudel tastes slightly like cream cheese and holds a dollop of highly concentrated matcha cream in the middle.

Lau’s decision to bring Nana’s to Seattle resulted from her visit to a Nana’s in Japan. She says she didn’t even like matcha before trying Nanas – she’s a great coffee drinker, after all. She knew that if the matcha-centered cafe could convert someone like her, it would be successful.

In a city notorious for its coffee, Lau had the right idea to introduce a new wave of emeralds.