When Cat Kerr saw on Instagram that the Matcha Café Maiko of Orlando was opening, she quickly applied for a barista position there.

Throughout Kerr’s life she has been a big fan of Japanese’s culture, traveling to Japan four times already. When she was younger, she was able to attend a Japanese tea ceremony where her interest and love for the overseas tea culture sparked. Coming to the Matcha café that interest and love for the tea only deepened.

“Working here has been so unique and precious,” Kerr said. “It is no longer a part time job.”

The cafe was opened in 2020 on Mills Ave by owner Minh Phan. Since working at Maiko, Kerr has become the hiring manager and Phan’s right hand. Both Kerr and Phan share their love for matcha and strive to give their customers the best product and a new experience of flavors.

Minh Phan's discovery of Matcha Café Maiko

Phan was born in Vietnam and moved to Orlando for school where she graduated from the University of Central Florida with a statistics degree. After graduation she moved to Georgia to work for an insurance company, where she came across a Matcha Café Maiko. After her first sip she fell in love and knew she wanted to open a store of her own in Orlando.

Phan grew up drinking tea and said it was hard to find a tea that tasted similar to what she had back home. When she found it she didn’t think twice about it she was determined to open the café.

“I did it for myself really,” Phan said. “And I wanted to share this matcha with people here.”

Kerr and Phan said there aren't too many places to get authentic Japanese matcha in the area. Their matcha is from Kyoto, a city in Japan known for food and gardens. The café specializes in matcha soft serve ice cream and specialty matcha drinks. There is no lack of the color green in their store.

They aim to bring their customers a true authentic matcha taste and great customer service. During the opening they said they received a lot of great feedback from the community and were packed for their soft opening.

“People who really love matcha don’t have too many options to go,” Phan said. “Starbucks is not the same.”

Starbucks adds a lot of sweetener and sugar to their matcha that gives it the sweet after taste, and they don’t offer a sugar free matcha. There are different grades of Matcha and Maiko is bringing their customers a premium grade and offering in many different styles. Matcha’s popularity has been growing and Phan said she makes sure her café keeps up with the new trends. They now offer Ube, a purple yam, in the forms of soft serve and in lattes. Also Japanese treats like Taiyaki.