A new waterfront cafe with no coffee on the menu has sold almost 300 cups on its opening day, as demand surged for Hobart’s newest specialty venue.
Jayden Mansfield opened Harbour Matcha at Brooke Street Pier on Friday. The venue serves only matcha-based drinks.
Matcha is a finely ground green tea powder traditionally used in Japanese tea ceremonies, now commonly served in cafés as a latte-style drink or poured over ice.
He and his partner are self-described matcha enthusiasts who source out the best matcha wherever they travel.
“I wanted to do that in Hobart, realistically give matcha its own little home in Hobart instead of people going to a coffee shop and grabbing it,” Mansfield told Pulse.
The shop gave away its first 50 drinks for free, and those were gone quickly.
“We thought only a few people would turn up,” Mansfield said.
“We were up to about an hour and a half at one point making orders, that was about how busy it was.”
Every drink is traditionally whisked by hand rather than poured from a bottle, which Mansfield said is central to the experience he wants to create.
“It feels good being able to watch yourself, your own drink get made and those sorts of things,” he said.
“That was kind of what I was aiming for.”
Mansfield, who grew up in Glenorchy in Hobart’s north, said the waterfront location was a natural fit, tying into the health and fitness crowd who frequent the area after runs.
Each drink contains around seven grams of matcha, he said roughly double what most cafes use.
The business sources its matcha through a Japanese-owned company with an Australian base and is the first Tasmanian outlet to use the particular product.
Tasmanian fruit is used in all the syrups, and they plan to use as many Tasmanian ingredients as possible.
Mansfield said customer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive from the opening weekend, including from an American tourist who left a detailed review calling it the best matcha she had tried during weeks of travelling across Australia.
Mansfield said the business has been built with room to grow but he plans to see how the next six to 12 months play out first.
Harbour Matcha is open Monday and Thursday from 10am to 4pm and Friday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm. It is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
