It was “love at first sip” when Donna Win had her first matcha latte in Japan in 2019. The 27-year-old small business owner and co-founder of the Matcha Club in Sydney had never been a coffee fan – it gives her “the shakes” – but had always enjoyed the flavour of green tea. When she tried the vividly coloured drink, “it was like, wow, this is the real deal”.
Returning to Sydney, she was dismayed by how few cafes were serving matcha. Now, less than a decade later, it’s become a “staple” on Australian cafe menus. To try the new matcha flooding the city, Win and her sister started a social club in 2024, bringing together matcha enthusiasts to cafe hop around town.
