Bandung, Indonesia, August 7, 2026

On a Friday morning in Bandung, six people gathered at Cāru Matcha Bar with a shared curiosity about matcha and a desire to understand what lies behind every bowl.

Presented by Cāru Matcha Bar and Matcharia, Whisk & Sip: Discovering Tradition, Usucha and Creamy Matcha Latte with Siti Mahdaria was an intimate matcha workshop exploring Japanese matcha through tasting, preparation, and conversation.

The session was scheduled from 10:30 to 12:00 WIB, but the workshop continued until almost 13:00. The participants' enthusiasm led to many questions, conversations, and exchanges that made it difficult to bring the session to a close.

The collaboration between Cāru Matcha Bar and Matcharia grew naturally from a shared belief in the importance of introducing people to high quality matcha and helping them appreciate it beyond trends.

Cāru Matcha Bar established its matcha bar toward the end of the pandemic, before the recent matcha boom made matcha widely popular. From the beginning, Cāru has been creating a space where people can experience matcha thoughtfully and develop a deeper appreciation for the tea.

This value resonates strongly with Matcharia. Quality, transparency, and education are at the heart of Matcharia's work. Rather than presenting matcha simply as a popular drink, Matcharia aims to introduce people to the stories behind it, including its origins, cultivars, harvest seasons, processing methods, and the people who make each bowl possible.

Because of these shared values, the collaboration with Cāru feels especially meaningful.

“I am very happy to work together with Cāru because we share the same intention of introducing people to good quality matcha and helping them understand why quality matters. Cāru started its matcha bar even before the matcha boom, at a time when matcha was not yet as widely talked about as it is today. That kind of commitment really resonates with me. It is meaningful to work together in Bandung and contribute to a community that appreciates matcha with curiosity and intention.”

The session was led by Siti Mahdaria, Certified Tea Sommelier, Matcha Consultant, and Founder of Matcharia. Siti's journey with Japanese tea has taken her from tea cultivation and processing in Japan to tea education, consulting, and matcha sourcing between Japan and Indonesia.

Rather than treating matcha simply as an ingredient, the workshop invited participants to experience it as a product of place, season, cultivar, craftsmanship, and preparation.

Five Matchas, Five Expressions

Participants tasted five different matchas from Japan and compared their characteristics through both usucha and matcha latte preparations.

The tasting began with M°02 Matcharia Signature Blend, a spring first flush matcha from Wazuka, Kyoto. Made from Okumidori, Yamatomidori, and Gokou cultivars and stone milled, it offered a creamy and smooth character with gentle umami, delicate nuttiness, and subtle chocolate undertones. The matcha is cultivated without pesticides using jikakake cultivation and is suitable for both usucha and koicha.

The tasting then moved to M°07 Okumidori, also from Wazuka, Kyoto. This spring first flush, stone milled matcha expressed rich umami, subtle sweetness, chestnut undertones, and a creamy texture. It showed how a high quality Okumidori can be enjoyed both as usucha and as a ceremonial style latte.

From Kyoto, participants travelled through their cups to Shizuoka with M°19 Okumidori Blend. This spring harvest matcha is mainly Okumidori, with Saemidori, Yutakamidori, and Tsuyuhikari also included in the blend. Machine milled, it offered creamy milk notes, gentle sweetness, and rich umami that became particularly reminiscent of cream cheese when prepared as a latte.

The fourth matcha was M°27 Spring Blend B from Yame, a limited quantity spring harvest made from Saemidori, Yabukita, and Asatsuki. It showed a creamy floral aroma, roasted almond notes, hints of asparagus, and soft astringency. It was bold enough for usucha while also working beautifully as a latte.

Finally, participants tasted M°16 Summer Blend, made with Saemidori and Yabukita from Kagoshima and manufactured in Yame. Its summer harvest character was noticeably different from the spring matchas, with smooth and light nutty notes and a friendly bitterness that paired naturally with milk. Its versatility makes it suitable for lattes, frappes, mocktails, and baking.

Together, the five matchas offered a small journey through different regions, cultivars, harvest seasons, and processing methods in Japan. More importantly, they showed participants that matcha does not have one single taste or one single way of being enjoyed.

One Matcha That Brought Everyone Together

Among the five matchas tasted that day, one stood out as the unanimous favorite.

M°02 Matcharia Signature Blend was the favorite of all six participants, and even the Cāru Matcha Bar team chose it as their favorite.

For Ria, this particular matcha carries a meaning that goes far beyond its flavour profile.

M°02 is a personal blend that Ria creates herself by blending tencha with the guidance of her tea teacher, Teruko Azuma, at her tea farm in Wazuka, Kyoto. The blend brings together Okumidori, Yamatomidori, and Gokou, creating the creamy, smooth, gently umami character that has become its signature.

“M°02 is very personal to me. It represents the type of matcha that I personally enjoy, but it also represents my connection with my tea teacher, Teruko-san, and her farm. I blend the tencha myself under her guidance, so every time I share M°02 with someone, I am also sharing a small part of that relationship and everything I have learned from her.”

Having M°02 become the unanimous favorite of the group made the experience especially meaningful for Siti. What began as a personal expression of her own taste and her relationship with her teacher had become something that resonated with an entire room of tea lovers.

(We paired the matcha we tasted with local delicacy - Getuk)

From Tasting to Whisking

After tasting and comparing the matchas, participants had the opportunity to make their own matcha latte.

They applied the techniques discussed during the session and experienced how water, whisking, concentration, and milk can change the final character of the drink.

The hands on experience was not only about making a beautiful latte. It was also about becoming more comfortable with matcha and learning to taste with greater awareness.

The enthusiasm of the participants was evident throughout the workshop. Questions continued to come even after the scheduled closing time, turning the original 90 minute session into an almost two and a half hour conversation about matcha, tea culture, preparation, and quality.

Esa, owner of Cāru Matcha Bar, also shared how much the session meant to the Cāru team:

“Not only the participants, but even me and my staff took notes during Ria's explanation. There is always something new to take away from her every time she opens her mouth! I am so excited!”

For Ria, Esa's words were a reminder that tea education can continue to grow even among people who already work with matcha every day. Sharing knowledge becomes an exchange rather than a one way lesson.

A Gathering of Tea Lovers

The six participants brought different perspectives into the room. Five joined from Bandung, including Muthia and Alya, tea house owners and Indonesian tea enthusiasts who are contributing to Bandung's growing tea community. Three other participants were Bandung based influencers and matcha enthusiasts who share an interest in learning more about Japanese tea.

One participant, Aurel, travelled from Jakarta specifically to attend the workshop.

Her presence was especially meaningful for Siti because Aurel had previously attended one of her matcha sessions in Japan. Seeing her make the journey from Jakarta to Bandung to join another session was a gesture that Siti deeply appreciated.

“Seeing familiar faces, meeting people who are building their own relationship with tea, and having someone travel all the way from Jakarta to join another session reminded me why I love sharing tea in the first place. It is not only about the matcha. It is about the people we meet through it, the knowledge we exchange, and the connections that continue long after the bowl is finished.”

Continuing the Conversation Around Matcha

For Siti, the Bandung workshop was also a reflection of the journey that brought her from Japanese tea fields to Indonesia's growing matcha community.

Through Matcharia, she hopes to make Japanese matcha more accessible while encouraging people to understand what lies behind every bowl. This includes the farmers, cultivars, harvest seasons, processing methods, and the many different ways matcha can be enjoyed.

Working with partners such as Cāru is part of that journey. By bringing together people who share a commitment to quality and education, these collaborations create opportunities for more people to experience matcha with greater knowledge and appreciation.

Whisk & Sip was a small gathering, but it reflected something much larger. It showed the growing curiosity around matcha in Indonesia and the desire to experience the tea beyond its current popularity.

Sometimes, discovering tradition does not require a grand ceremony.

It can begin with six people around a table, five bowls of matcha, a bamboo whisk, and the willingness to slow down and taste.

And sometimes, a 90 minute workshop becomes two and a half hours because nobody wants the conversation to end.