Matcha Highball

A modern Japanese cocktail blending ceremonial-grade matcha with gin and tonic, creating an earthy, sophisticated twist on the classic G&T.

The Matcha Highball finds its logic in a flavor overlap that is genuinely botanical rather than merely fashionable. Matcha — the finely stone-ground powder made from shaded, tencha-processed green tea leaves — has been central to Japanese tea ceremony since the 12th century, when the Zen monk Eisai brought Camellia sinensis plants and the whipped powdered tea practice from Tang Dynasty China to Japan, documenting its virtues in his 1211 treatise Kissa Yojoki (How to Stay Healthy by Drinking Tea). The cultivation practice of shading the tea plants before harvest, developed in Japan from around the 14th century onward, increases chlorophyll and L-theanine content and gives matcha its vivid green color and distinctively umami, grassy depth. London Dry gin shares several botanical reference points with matcha: juniper's piney freshness, the cucumber-like notes of certain botanicals, and the underlying herbal character that defines both. Bartenders observing this alignment began incorporating matcha into gin-based cocktails as the ingredient's global profile grew dramatically during the 2010s, driven by Japanese culinary export and Western specialty café culture. The highball format — spirit over ice, extended with soda — is Japan's most beloved cocktail template, and the country's precision culture around dilution, ice quality, and carbonation has influenced how the format is understood worldwide. Combining matcha with gin in a highball honors both traditions simultaneously.