One of Brooklyn’s Best Matcha Shops Just Opened in Los Feliz

Kettl Tea in Los Feliz. Sip on matcha lattes, iced matchagenmai, and houjicha cortados as the new shop The first West Coast outpost of New York-based matcha specialist Kettl opened in Los Angeles’s Los Feliz neighborhood in late February. The small shop, which imports its own tea, serves a menu of lattes, traditional matcha, and other brewed teas from Japan.

Kettl’s owner, Zach Mangan, first started the tea importing company 15 years ago, before opening the first shop in New York City in 2020. The minimal interior of the Los Feliz location, which is also the West Coast flagship, mirrors the design of the Brooklyn shop with natural elements throughout, including light wood shelves and stone countertops. Although Kettl carries a range of specialty teas, it’s best known for its matcha lattes.



“We have three different varieties of matcha that we source specifically for lattes,” says Mangan. Alongside tea for lattes, the shop reserves a special blend to use in a traditional whisked preparation; beyond its matcha, Kettl also offers houjicha and sobacha (buckwheat tea) lattes and cortados. Iced options include sparkling matcha, gyokuro (shaken green tea), genmaimatcha (green tea with roasted rice), and mugicha (barley tea).

Wakoucha, a Japanese black tea and sencha are available brewed hot. “In recent years, black tea and oolong have grown in availability in Japan,” Mangan says. “So there’s more producers developing those types of teas.

”Kettl’s import arm is incorporated in Japan, with a main office in Fukuoka. Tea comes in weekly to Kettl’s facility directly from its producers; Kettl repackages and distributes them to the U.S.

Mangan says that this process helps him ensure the tea stays fresh. “Usually it’s less than 10 days between receiving the teas from the producers and getting them into the hands of the customers,” he says. Matcha being prepared at the counter.

At the Los Feliz outpost of Kettl, customers can grab their teas to go or take a seat in a small area in the back of the shop. Upstairs on the mezzanine, there’s an additional communal seating area. At the small four-seat tasting counter, Kettl offers a guided tea tasting “omakase” by reservation; those who reserve the counter can also order from the a la carte menu.

Looking forward, Mangan aims to have the mezzanine at Kettl double an education lab. In New York City, Kettl holds 12 classes a week around Japanese tea — Mangan plans to mirror that in Los Angeles as well once the staff has settled in. The shop partnered with ice creamery August Novelties (started by former Noma pastry chef Malcolm Livingston II) to serve plant-based ice cream bars that are available exclusively at the Los Feliz location.

(Of course, all the ice cream bars are tea-flavored.) It’s also working with a local chef on a soon-to-come pastry program, but details have yet to be finalized. Kettl’s West Coast opening comes against the backdrop of an impending matcha shortage driven by ever-increasing demand and limited supply.

According to Mangan, matcha “counts for less than half a percent of the output of Japanese green tea” and it takes time to ramp up production. “Kettl is in a good position with the relationships it’s developed with producers over the years,” Mangan says. “We work with so many great producers that we can kind of spread out our inventory.

” Kettl plans to develop partnerships in newer regions of production that are not historically famous for matcha. While the Los Feliz location is Kettl’s first shop in Los Angeles, the company already has been distributing tea to several LA restaurants and coffee shops, including Tsubaki and Mandarin Coffee Shop. Still, Mangan feels that it’s important to have a physical location.

”It creates a different type of culture than just being online”, he says. “You can really build a community.” He adds that more local chefs have discovered Kettl since the shop’s opening and have approached it with warmth and curiosity.

Kettl’s arrival coincides with a growing appreciation for premium teas in Los Angeles. In Chinatown, modern teahouse Steep LA offers tea ceremonies, and tea expert Tomoko Kurokawa often leads educational tastings with Culinary Curation.Kettl is located at 4677 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90027.

Reservations for the matcha tasting counter are available on the shop’s website. Interior of Kettl. Matcha preparation tools.

Matcha and an ice cream bar from August Novelties..