Holy Matcha softly opened last week. The cafe offers a menu focused around Japanese matcha green tea, offering ceremonial matcha, matcha drinks, and matcha flavored foods. They also serve a few other tea varieties.
I love all things matcha, so I was especially excited for the opening of this new cafe.
The blush pink interior is a beautiful contrast to the naturally green matcha.
I was a little surprised at how crowded it was when I popped in. The cafe was filled with people eager to take photos of themselves against the pink seats or with the neon sign.
Drinks are made to order and we watched as the employees painstakingly prepared each drink starting with the traditional method of making matcha tea by blending matcha powder with water using a bamboo whisk and vigorously mixing by hand until frothy.
Matcha Lemonade
All the drinks were served unsweetened, which I was a little surprised by. While I appreciate the desire to stay true to the matcha, I did feel like this needed a little sweetness. The combination of bitter matcha with tart lemon juice was just a little too much for me.
Matcha Latte
I adored the little heart decoration. Again, this drink is served unsweetened. We asked if they had glass cups, but were told that all drinks are served in paper cups except for the ceremonial tea which is served in the traditional ceremonial cups.
While I preferred this drink over the first one, it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. Perhaps it was the coconut milk, as I’m used to using whole milk in my lattes.
Matcha Donut
How cute is this plating? They had an array of matcha flavored baked goods and I couldn’t resist trying the vegan matcha donut. While the donut was quite moist it was also too sweet for my personal preference.
Overall, I want to come back after this cafe has had its official grand opening and a chance to settle in and perhaps tweak some of their menu items. The staff was extremely nice and it’s such a lovely space. I do like the concept a lot even though some of the drinks and food didn’t match my personal tastes.
Holy Matcha
3118 University Ave, San Diego, CA 92104
What a nice “first look” Kirbie! Good to know about the unsweetened lemonade. I will have to bring my own sugar, haha. but seriously. Their decor is lovely and it seems like every new place has to have a neon sign nowadays.
We were actually looking around for sugar to add. hehe. But maybe they will have it available after the grand opening. the decor is so pretty!
Now I know why I saw a news truck there yesterday morning!
haha, yes!