Customers at Issy's in Milford said they came to try the cafe's strawberry matcha after they saw it on TikTok. Photo: RNZ / Jessica Hopkins
A trending drink, strawberry matcha, has given Auckland coffee shops a much needed pick-me-up.
Posts about the bright green and pink beverage gained almost 70 million views on TikTok.
Now Aucklanders are joining the trend, using social media to find the best strawberry matcha in their city.
Local cafes said despite initial hesitancy, customers were now lapping the drink up at around $9 a cup.
Head barista at Blackdrop Eatery in Newmarket King Tee said the strawberry matcha iced latte is now its best-selling drink.
"When we first started serving it, it piqued curiosity in people, but they weren't very keen to try it.
"Then it started getting popular on TikTok and everybody had to have one. People started coming in every single day. I've been making more matcha strawberry than coffee."
King Tee with a popular strawberry matcha iced latte and matcha cookie. Photo: RNZ / Jessica Hopkins
He said the business sold up to 80 cups of matcha strawberry a day and sales had more than doubled in the past few months.
"One 500 gram bag of matcha used to last six months. Now we are going through one bag a week."
Tee said the drink's biggest adopters were Gen Z and millennials who had never had matcha, but saw it online.
"Matcha is not a new thing. But for the younger generation it's new and trendy."
While most were enticed by the drink's aesthetic appeal, he said first-time matcha drinkers were pleasantly surprised by the taste.
"Feedback I've received is that it's really refreshing and easy to drink.
"Matcha strawberry is one of the easiest ways to get into matcha because matcha itself is a really earthy umami drink, but the strawberry balances it out."
According to Tee, many cafes that wanted to capitalise on matcha's growing popularity were not using high-grade matcha in their drinks.
"Most cafes in Auckland are still trying to catch up and are using a baking-grade matcha. If you're drinking it, it's better to have a higher grade matcha which has more umami.
"A baking matcha is more yellow, a high grade matcha is usually a neon-ish green."
The owner of Luna Bakehouse, Malisa Nguyen, said the business had also seen a recent spike in strawberry matcha sales.
Malisa Nguyen with one of her business's matcha treats. Photo: RNZ / Jessica Hopkins
She said staff paid close attention to online trends when choosing new menu items.
"We're quite focused on social media in general and strawberry matcha is one of the prettiest drinks. It has three different layers and the colour combination looks really cool."
Nguyen said strawberry and matcha was a common flavour combination in Japan, but the social media hype had seen more cafes offer it worldwide.
The Asian community had enjoyed matcha well before it became 'trendy'.
"Back in the day, we used to have to convince people to give it a shot and that matcha is really good."
More people in New Zealand had started to embraced matcha, with some customers choosing it over their usual coffee.
"We're definitely starting to see more matcha drinkers. A lot of people are swapping from coffee to matcha at the moment. It's reaching a ratio of one matcha drinker to three or four coffee drinkers.
"Now people are more open-minded and willing to give it a go."
The owner of Issy's in Milford, Issy Williams, who has been a matcha-lover for almost a decade, said she was inspired to sell strawberry matcha at her cafe after trying it during a trip to New York last year.
Issy Williams said her cafe's strawberry matcha had taken off thanks to social media. Photo: RNZ / Jessica Hopkins
She launched the drink as a limited-time special but it was now a permanent menu item.
"The strawberry matcha has really taken off. Some weekends we sell more matcha than coffee which is crazy to think because it was more of a special we were going to do. But it has now been on our menu for nearly a year."
She said many new customers from around the city who heard about the drink on social media had become regulars.
TikTok posts about the cafe's strawberry matcha had been a huge help for her business.
"TikTok is probably the biggest platform for us. It has that younger generation that's into new fads and trends and matcha has become really popular lately.
"A lot of people have posted our strawberry matcha on social media because it does look quite aesthetic and people have travelled from all around Auckland to try our matcha."
