The fact that Kahii is inside a beautiful heritage-listed CBD building on Kent Street already gives this place an edge, but once you try the Matcha Cloud, you’ll most likely forget about the architecture entirely. It’s ceremonial-grade matcha blended with black sesame cream and finished with a little crumble on top, and the combination of earthy and nutty and just-sweet-enough is so good, it’ll probably become your new addiction. Also worth knowing: Kahii turns into a cocktail bar in the evenings, so depending on when you visit, you’re either starting your day right or ending it even better. Lobby/364 Kent St, Sydney; kahii.com.au

This Cronulla matcha shop sources its ceremonial-grade matcha from the Shizuoka prefecture in Japan. It’s selected with the kind of seriousness that earns them the right to do some extremely fun things with it. The flavour line-up includes birthday cake, dot cake, Biscoff, pistachio, mango sticky rice, apple pie, butterscotch cookie, banana foam and strawberries and cream, alongside the classics, and they’ve also riffed on Erewhon-style smoothie creations, for anyone chasing that LA wellness energy at a southern Sydney beach town price point. A matcha latte topped with toasted marshmallows? Talk about a good reason to ride the Illawarra line. 33-39 Croydon St, Cronulla; @makersdaily

Mamuki’s Glebe outpost opened in early 2026, and the neighbourhood took to it pretty much immediately, which makes sense when you see the place. There’s a sage-green door, two big street-facing windows, and a tiny Japanese garden with a fountain just inside, which is a lot of charm for a terrace shopfront to pull off without feeling try-hard. Whether you’re in Glebe or Enmore, the matcha is smooth and balanced, often finished with latte art in glazed ceramic cups that you can actually buy and take home. Legendary banana-matcha muffins and freshly made onigiri sit in the cabinet alongside, making it very easy to turn a quick coffee stop into an entire morning. @mamuki.bake.bar

If you’ve never had a matcha with roasted seaweed on top before, Moon & Back is about to make that a thing for you. Their ‘dirty matcha’ is a latte topped with a cloud of matcha foam and finished with slivers of roasted seaweed scattered over the top. It sounds a tad chaotic, sure, but the seaweed brings a savoury edge that plays beautifully against the bitterness of the matcha and espresso. It’s not really a drink so much as a whole little experience in a cup, and it’s one of the most original things happening in Sydney’s matcha scene right now. Shop 7/2 Crewe Pl, Rosebery; @moonandback.syd

Rozelle doesn’t get nearly enough credit in the Sydney cafe conversation, but Noia is doing everything it can to change that. This small, stylish spot does ceremonial-grade matcha the way it deserves: with precision and without unnecessary sweetness clouding the tea’s complex flavours. The vibe is ‘relaxed neighbourhood local’, with outdoor seating that makes it a natural pit stop if you’re on your way back from the Dawn Fraser Baths a few minutes down the road. Refreshingly, this place is not all over social media, and it probably doesn’t want to be; somehow that makes the matcha taste even better. 8 Nagurra Pl, Rozelle; noiacoffee.com

Noon has nabbed the kind of corner spot that catches the morning sun just right, and the regulars know just when to catch it at its best. What they’re doing with matcha is properly considered too: ceremonial-grade, sourced with care and prepared in a way that lets it stay grassy and smooth rather than getting pushed into overly sweet territory. The room itself has a great ’70s feel going on, with leather couches and glass brick walls bringing a warm low-key glow. Breakfast pulls ingredients from all over Sydney, too. If a beach trip is already happening, this is exactly where you want to be beforehand. Shop 1/18 Raglan St, Manly; goodgoodcompany.com/venue/noon

This place is basically a secret, and the people who know about it would probably like to keep it that way. It’s tucked under a streetwear store in Haymarket, and if you blink you’ll probably miss it, but inside, they’re making what a lot of people think is the best matcha latte in Sydney. Nothing fancy, no flavoured syrups, just a really well-whisked, earthy, perfectly balanced cup that tastes exactly like matcha is supposed to taste. They also do Iggy’s Bread croissants – plain and chocolate – which seems almost unfair to the places around it. Plus: $6,50 for a cup? Outta this world. Ground floor/17 Valentine St, Haymarket; @outtacoffeesydney

There’s a laneway attached to this little Surry Hills onigiri cafe, and on a nice morning, sitting out there with a matcha, it feels like you’ve been transported to somewhere deep in the alleys of Tokyo. The matcha itself is the proper, authentic kind, served in a ceramic cup that’s meant to be held with two hands and enjoyed slowly rather than necked on the way to the bus. The onigiri are excellent (the wagyu one especially) and the muffin flavours rotate while always seeming to involve matcha or mochi in some clever way, but when at Parami, the matcha is a non-negotiable. Shop 101/21 Alberta St, Sydney; parami.com.au

Up South’s strawberry matcha here went viral for a reason: it’s as delicious as it is beautiful. But while that pink, white and green cup is worthy of its attention, so is everything else on the Korean cafe-inspired menu here. If there’s a caffeinated drink going nuts on TikTok, (like the banana pudding matcha that took over NYC a year or so back), you’ll probably find it here. It gets busy and the space is small, but the line moves fast. And with offerings like the ‘Beach Picnic for Two’ box stacked with sandwiches and baked treats, the expert move is to grab your haul and take it to the nearby sand. 249 Bondi Rd, Bondi; upsouthbondicafe.com

This is the OG. Yu Sasaki opened the original Cre Asion back in 2011, making it Sydney’s first dedicated matcha cafe. The North Sydney outpost on Eden Street carries that legacy forward without leaning on nostalgia, turning out a clean, strong matcha latte with a satisfying earthy intensity, offered up alongside some of the best Japanese-style baked goods in the city. If you like what you taste, Cre Asian even sells the kit and ingredients to make your own matcha at home. A lot of Sydney’s newer matcha spots are measuring themselves against this one – whether they admit it or not. 18 Eden St, North Sydney; creasion.com.au