DRINK
THE NEW BUZZ: matcha goes off-grid
COFFEE’ S HAD ITS MOMENT. NOW A NEW KIND OF CAFFEINE IS WHISPERING ITS WAY THROUGH SOUTH AFRICA: SLOWER, GREENER, AND SURPRISINGLY GOOD OVER ICE. MATCHA HAS TRADED YOGA STUDIOS FOR ROADSIDE CAFÉS, AND THE COUNTRY’ S SMALL TOWNS ARE STARTING TO GLOW A GENTLE SHADE OF JADE.
Forget the frantic pour of an espresso machine. In Sea Point, Ceremony Matcha Bar starts its mornings with bamboo whisks and ocean air. The iced matcha here is more than a drink; it’ s a ritual; clean, calm, and absurdly photogenic. Down the road, Nice to Matcha and Mochi Mochi keep it playful with oat milk swirls, edible flowers, and that faint sea-salt tang that makes you want to move to the coast permanently.
Drive a few hours, and matcha takes on a road-trip personality. In Knysna, Trinity Premium Coffee Co. whips up iced matcha lattes that taste like lagoon air and weekend freedom. Locals queue barefoot, chatting about wind forecasts more than Wi-Fi. Further east in Coffee Bay, Friends Wild Coast Café serves its version in coconut milk to surfers still dripping salt. It’ s beach-bum Buddhism in a takeaway cup.
Matcha may start as a whisked powder and water ritual, but South Africans are remixing it. There’ s the classic iced latte, pale green and silky over oat milk; the sweet cream version, a chilled swirl of matcha and vanilla foam that turns every sip into dessert; and the sparkling matcha spritz, for those who like their caffeine with bubbles. Some cafés spoon it over ice cream, others add coconut milk, honey, or a dash of chai spice. Whichever way you spin it, the colour stays hypnotic and the calm still hits.
Matcha isn’ t a fad; it’ s a slow caffeine revolution. It offers lift without the crash, focus without frenzy; a steady hum that feels right for a South African summer. It’ s the drink for people who’ d rather exhale than hustle, who know their energy’ s worth savouring.
ROVE SA TIP: Ask for it iced. Skip the syrup. Let the powder do the talking.
58 | SUMMER 2025 / 26 • rovesa. co. za