Where to Drink a Matcha Cocktail in Helsinki: Two Bars, Two Very Different Nights

Matcha has moved from the café counter to the bar. In a cocktail, though, it's a tricky ingredient: heat brings out off-flavours, and plenty of people expect it to taste like grass before they've even tried it.

Aura and Iskra from HDF Media went out to try two matcha cocktails in Helsinki. One is made at a club-style cocktail bar in Kamppi, the city-centre shopping district. The other is poured on the 24th floor of a skyscraper in Kalasatama, a waterfront neighbourhood a short metro ride east of the centre. Both are good. They just belong to different nights.

Gate A21: the minty Mintchata in Kamppi

Annankatu 21, Kamppi

Gate A21 is a cocktail bar with a DJ and a dancefloor, the kind of place where the night tends to run late. A matcha cocktail is not what you'd expect to find there.

The Mintchata is built on gin and a French bergamot liqueur. “Bergamot is a really aromatic citrus fruit from the south of France,” says Eliel Karhu, who created the drink. Jasmine tea and mint go in next. The mint is infused sous vide, inspired by North African mint tea, so the leaves give up their aroma without scorching. The matcha is cold-brewed and the drink is finished with lemon. “That way the matcha keeps its aromas and you don't get any nasty off-flavours,” Karhu says.

What you taste first is freshness. The mint leads, and according to Iskra the matcha shows up more in the powder dusted on top than in the flavour. Aura called it an easy way into matcha, even if matcha tea on its own doesn't do much for you. It tastes like summer for a reason: it's from the summer menu, and Karhu says it comes off at the end of September when the autumn list arrives.

The team joked about whether matcha was one trend too many. “I just said no, people are interested in it,” Karhu says.

Order: Mintchata (€15.20). Soon, before the menu changes.

Bisoubisou: a creamy Matcha Martini, 24 floors up

Hermannin rantatie 9A, 24th floor, Kalasatama

Bisoubisou is a French-style restaurant and bar at the top of the Horisontti tower, about 100 metres above the ground. The restaurant side looks out to sea, the bar side over the city. Go shortly before sunset.

The Matcha Martini is made by bartender Razvan. “It's a matcha-based cocktail, and the base spirit is gin,” he says. “Pandan gives it that toasted vanilla and nutty flavour.” Almond milk and a house-made vanilla syrup round it out.

The Matcha Martini is creamy and slightly nutty, and it tastes clearly of real matcha. Razvan pitches it as an after-dinner alternative to an espresso martini. “Most people are afraid of the grassy taste, but that's not really the case here. It's worth trying, especially if you're wary of matcha.”

Razvan himself is a coffee person. His bet for the next trend is mezcal, and Bisoubisou's current menu already has a sour pairing mezcal with pineapple liqueur.

Order: Matcha Martini (€16), ideally at a window table.

Which one is for you?

If your night starts in the centre and ends on a dancefloor, go to Gate A21 and get the fresh Mintchata. If you want to sit down, watch the sun go down and end dinner on something soft, go to Bisoubisou. And if you're not sold on matcha yet, start with the Matcha Martini, the gentler of the two. The espresso martini made the HDF community's list of Finland's five most popular cocktails, so there's clearly room for a matcha take.

Know another bar in Helsinki making matcha cocktails? Tell us on Instagram @helsinkidrinkfestival. For the best bar tips every weekend, get the HDF Weekend newsletter every Thursday: subscribe here.

HDF Media guide

The details

Gate A21
Annankatu 21, Helsinki
Open daily 4pm–4.30am
gatea21.fi ↗︎

Bisoubisou
Hermannin rantatie 9A, 24th floor, Kalasatama, Helsinki
Mon–Thu 11am–2pm and 4pm–11pm, Fri 11am–2pm and 4pm–midnight, Sat 2pm–midnight. Kitchen opens at 5pm on weekdays.
bisoubisou.fi ↗︎

Prices
From the bars' menus, 16 September 2026