CALIFORNIA STATE – For more than two decades, Philz Coffee has built its identity around one thing: coffee prepared one cup at a time.
Now, the San Francisco-founded chain is making one of the biggest departures from that formula in its history. Philz has added matcha to its menu for the first time, launching four handcrafted drinks across its more than 80 locations.
The move takes Philz into a category that has become enormously popular at competing chains, but the company is attempting to give matcha the same highly customizable treatment that helped make its Mint Mojito and individually brewed coffee blends famous.
I stopped into the Lafayette, California Philz location, where they gave me a new matcha to try.
Four Matcha Drinks Are Now Available
The new lineup consists of four 16-ounce iced drinks:
- Iced Matcha: Matcha layered over brown sugar and oat milk for a creamy but relatively straightforward introduction to the menu. It is priced at $6.50.
- Strawberry Matcha: Fresh strawberry puree, brown sugar and oat milk combined with iced matcha. It is priced at $7.50.
- Strawberry Mint Matcha: Strawberry puree, brown sugar, oat milk and matcha topped with the fresh mint that already appears in several of Philz’s best-known drinks. It is priced at $7.50.
- Salted Caramel Matcha: Matcha layered with oat milk and caramel, then finished with sea salt. It is priced at $7.50.
Oat milk is the default, although customers can substitute 2% milk without paying an additional charge. The drinks can also be customized with Philz’s familiar range of sweetness levels.
All four are currently served iced and in a single 16-ounce size. Philz has not announced hot or larger versions.
Why This Is Such a Major Change for Philz
Adding four matcha drinks may sound like a routine menu expansion, but it represents a significant shift for a chain that has historically remained intensely focused on coffee.
Philz does not operate like a conventional espresso bar. Its core menu is built around individually prepared coffee blends rather than lattes, cappuccinos and other espresso-based drinks. Even its more elaborate creations typically begin with brewed coffee or cold brew.
The new lineup gives customers an entire family of drinks without any coffee at all.
Philz Chief Business Officer Andy Mai said matcha and a rewards program had been the two menu features most frequently requested by customers. The company launched Philz Rewards in 2025 and then turned its attention to developing the matcha lineup.
That helps explain drinks like Strawberry Mint Matcha, which borrows the fresh-mint element associated with the chain’s immensely popular Mint Mojito.
The Matcha Comes From Japan
Philz says its matcha is sourced from Uji, Japan, an area near Kyoto that is internationally renowned for producing high-quality Japanese green tea.
Rather than completely mixing the drinks before serving them, Philz layers the matcha over the milk and other ingredients. Customers can stir everything together immediately or drink through the layers as the flavors gradually combine.
The result is also unusually colorful by Philz standards. The strawberry drinks arrive with visible layers of green matcha, pink fruit puree and oat milk, making them a particularly camera-friendly addition to a chain whose traditional coffee blends are considerably more understated.
Personally, I tried the Strawberry Matcha, at full sweetness and with oatmilk. Indeed, it comes as a layered drink.
One thing I noticed right away was the brown sugar blended with the strawberry puree at the bottom. The puree tastes fresh and crisp, and the brown sugar gives it a pleasantly intense sweetness.
Meanwhile, the oatmilk in the middle of the drink binds the tannins in the matcha, making it creamier and less intensley bitter.
One caveat: if you’re a “drink it in layers” like me instead of a “mix it all together” person, you’ll notice that once you’ve polished off the sweet strawberry layer and the creamy oatmilk/matcha layer, you’re left with pure, unsweetened matcha on the top.
That’s a bit different from other local places like Boba Guys, which sweetens the tea first, before blending it with puree and milk. Since Philz keeps its sweetener layer separate, that means your last few sips will be really, really intense if you don’t swirl everything up!
Of course, for you matcha purists out there who don’t sweeten the drink at all, that might be fine!
Overall, the Strawberry Matcha was delicious. You can tell the matcha itself is high quality. And it has a caffeine kick that feels just as potent as the coffee drinks for which Philz is known.
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Available Around the East Bay
The matcha menu is available at Philz locations throughout California, including East Bay cafes in Lafayette, Walnut Creek, San Ramon, Pleasanton, Berkeley, Oakland and San Leandro.
Customers can order the drinks in person or through the Philz app. The complete lineup is also displayed on the company’s new Meet Your Matcha page.
Philz currently identifies the Salted Caramel Matcha as a limited-time drink. The company has not listed the same restriction for the Classic Iced Matcha, Strawberry Matcha or Strawberry Mint Matcha, so these are expected to be permanent additions.
The expansion is particularly well timed for Contra Costa County. As we reported, Concord’s first Philz Coffee opens August 26 at the Willows Shopping Center.
That location will hold soft-opening hours from 8 a.m. to noon on August 24 and 25 before officially opening at 5:30 a.m. on August 26.
For longtime Philz customers, the change means it is finally possible to visit the coffee chain without ordering any coffee at all.
