Dubai chocolate and matcha latte have been trending for months, but are they worth the hype?
Making Dubai chocolate and matcha latte at home for your guests
Writer’s note: The original publication date was May 25, 2025. Additional sections regarding snack matchups have been added to this post.
There’s always going to be a food or drink trend on social media that people really love. Then there are those who don’t understand the hype or hate the snack or drink altogether. I laugh every time I see matcha lattes trending on TikTok and think of the time a couple of years ago (yes, I was ahead of the trending game on this one) when I made matcha lattes for my parents.
My mother curled her lip and scrunched her nose, before saying, “It’s green.” My response, “We’ve read this Dr. Seuss book before, Mom, and it doesn’t have to be like this.”
Recommended Read: “10 food hacks that made gross foods into delicious meals ~ Parents, here are tips that can help you get your picky kids to eat healthier”
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My father took one sip and left it on the counter, chitchatting away as he headed to a totally different room. While I guzzled my matcha latte down as I walked from the kitchen to the living room, I found it suspicious that he immediately returned to the kitchen to “do the dishes.” I never saw that mug in his hand again until he was drinking coffee the next morning.
Because I was staying in my childhood home overnight, I was all set to make a matcha latte in the morning and couldn’t find the powder. I looked in the pantry, the fridge, the cabinets and even my own suitcase. Nowhere in sight. Finally, I asked my parents had they seen it. They shook their heads no. I narrowed my eyes, knowing full well where I left the powder.
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“If one of you hid it, I’m not going to make you drink it again,” I said.
“In that case,” my father said, reaching for a grocery bag on the pantry door. “Here you go!”
It hadn’t even occurred to me to look in this plastic bag inconspicuously hiding in plain sight. I just shook my head, made my drink and thought to myself that those two were the ones who were missing out.
Matcha latte isn’t overly complicated. It’s a mix of matcha green tea powder, hot water and (plant-based) milk. The powder, which is made from finely ground green tea leaves, is slightly bitter, but the additional ingredients make matcha latte sweet. The first time I tried matcha latte, it reminded me of drinking sugar water or Kool-Aid if I didn’t add enough powder. And the (plant-based) milk gives it the frothiness it’s known for. Still, I can see why it’d be considered an acquired taste.
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Can you like matcha latte if you don’t like green tea? It’s possible. I drink green tea just about every day, so there’s a bias I cannot ignore. However, for my mother to be repulsed by matcha latte and still drink green tea right along with me, the “brothy” umami taste may be where we aren’t on the same page.
Foods that have a high amount of umami include tomatoes, soy sauce and mushrooms. And I keep mushrooms around almost as much as green tea because I use the fungi as a meat substitute.
(Side note on mushrooms and tea: Beauty & the Foodie has an amazing recipe for Crispy Oven Fried Garlic Mushrooms. I only eat tomatoes in pasta and couldn’t care less about soy sauce on anything but maki rolls, and I still prefer to solely eat it on wasabi. However, there was a time when I was disgusted by mushrooms and didn’t drink tea at all. In fact, it wasn’t until I befriended a Japanese girl in college that I could even tolerate tea, mainly because she would only drink tea and I got used to drinking it with her. My mother used to prescribe tea to me for everything: stomachaches, colds, scratched knee. I used to tell her she thought tea could cure every disease known to man, and she’d stand there with her arms folded and not disagreeing.)
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Then there’s the other TikTok trend: Dubai chocolate bars. There’s a 99% chance I’ll never try Dubai chocolates — no matter how popular this dessert is on TikTok — because I cannot stand pistachio cream. But even Trader Joe’s is getting in on the trend with their own Patislove Dubai Style Pistachio Dark Chocolate for $3.99 at nationwide stores. I’m reconsidering this — if I can change the nut recipe.
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For homeowners who are interested in serving the latest trends to houseguests, specifically Dubai chocolate and matcha latte, here are the basics of making the sweet snack and cafe-style drink. Also, here are a few suggestions for tweaking both options in case they’re too sweet or too bitter.