Most wellness trends arrive in South Africa trailing a considerable amount of noise. Matcha was no exception, appearing on café menus and Instagram feeds with all the fanfare of the latest TikTok obsession.
Yet beneath the emerald-green lattes and photogenic whisks, there has always been substance. Long before it became the internet’s favourite morning drink, matcha had been central to Japanese tea culture for centuries, prized as much for the ritual surrounding its preparation as for the drink itself.
That’s the space South African-founded brand Ceremony has stepped into since launching in 2022. Rather than chasing a trend, it has built a business around a simple philosophy: how you begin your morning matters, and the act of making your drink can be just as restorative as drinking it.
Founder Mikayla McClean grew up in the Middle East, travelling extensively with her father and experiencing food cultures and hospitality traditions that shaped her understanding of how wellbeing and everyday rituals intersect.
That background, combined with training in UI/UX design and visual storytelling, informs every aspect of Ceremony, from the design of its packaging to the atmosphere of its Sea Point Matcha Bar, where a Michelin-trained chef has developed a menu that treats matcha with the seriousness it deserves.
Ceremony was also the first South African company tohat sounds like marketing until you understand what it actually means in terms of quality. Unlike culinary-grade matcha, which is typically intended for baking or cooking, ceremonial-grade matcha is produced from the youngest spring leaves and designed to be enjoyed on its own, making quality and flavour paramount
Ceremony sources its tea from Kagoshima in southern Japan where mineral-rich volcanic soils, spring water and cool mountain air create conditions that produce ceremonial-grade matcha with all the health benefits in tow. Before harvest, the tea plants are shaded for around three weeks, encouraging the development of chlorophyll and L-theanine, the amino acid associated with calm, sustained focus. The leaves are then hand-picked during the first spring harvest before being slowly stone-ground into an impossibly fine powder.
The resulting matcha is easy to distinguish from the dull, bitter matcha powders that populate most café menus. High-quality ceremonial matcha should be vibrantly green, naturally sweet and deeply umami with a fresh, grassy aroma.
Their latest release, the Single Estate 30g blend, is the most recent expression of this sourcing philosophy. The blend combines two cultivars, Okumidori and Saemidori, both from Kagoshima’s first spring harvest. Okumidori is known for its deep, umami-forward character and vivid green colour while Saemidori produces a naturally sweeter, more delicate profile.
Together they create something balanced and nuanced, a matcha with depth that isn’t overpowering. Even sceptics who have written off matcha after one too many grassy café versions may find themselves pleasantly surprised.
The flavour profile is naturally sweet with a clean finish, which makes it well-suited to both traditional preparation (whisked with hot water in a bowl) and the kind of daily ritual that Ceremony is designed around.
More importantly, the high L-theanine content delivers the kind of steady, focused energy that has earned matcha its loyal following: alertness without the sharp caffeine spike and inevitable afternoon slump many coffee drinkers know all too well.
Menu development at Ceremony is led by Kira Jacobs, whose experience in Michelin-starred kitchens and health coaching shapes the brand’s food offering. Influenced by time spent in Asia and New York, she treats matcha as more than a wellness trend, showcasing it in dishes like white chocolate matcha cookies and matcha-misu, while the menu branches into savoury territory with offerings such as the togarashi cube.
As Ceremony prepares to open a second matcha bar, we can only hope that Johannesburg is next. Until then, we recommend a visit to Marc’s by Marc Jacobs at Hyde Park Corner for a matcha fix of your own.
