With a history of 120 years in managing a number of old hotels and restaurants, the Ryumeikan Group will open a new café that sells Japanese desserts, pastries, tea and coffee called CHAYA 1899 TOKYO. The new café is set to open on February 21, 2020 and will embrace the delicious flavours of matcha, hōjicha and Japanese black tea. 

The café will open on floor 1 of the boutique hotel Hotel 1899 Tokyo. The café interior is wood-themed with touches of black for a casual fusion of tradition and modernity. With a space of 120 square metres, the relaxing environment is spacious enough to seat 38.

The original restaurant opened for business in December 2018. Now, CHAYA 1899 TOKYO specialises in Japanese beverages and intends to live its days as the tea shop that customers can visit as they please for a break from everyday life.

One of the most appealing aspects of the new restaurant has to be the menu. There are 10 different drinks available. Each drink is carefully made with high-quality tea leaves that were carefully selected from all over Japan. The tea varieties include matcha, hōjicha, Japanese black tea made from Japanese tea leaves. 

Rich Matcha Latte: ¥600 (After Tax)

Each cup of tea is carefully made, one by one, by the café’s Japanese tea specialist. The rich matcha tea is made using traditional tools such as a bamboo whisk. From this, soy milk or milk is added to make the rich matcha latte. From three to six grams, you can choose the strength of your tea by the gram to create a more personalised matcha latte. 

 Other drinks on the menu include the Hōjicha Latte and the brand new inventions the ‘Matcha Soda and ‘Japanese Black Tea Soda’, which will tempt you their exquisite aromas. 

The café even has a counter especially for the tea making and pouring procedures. The water for each drink is boiled in a traditional kettle by the tea specialist, who carefully regulates the water temperature and controls the brewing time according to the tea leaf. 

Matcha Pan:  ¥600 (After Tax)

As expected, the café also sells delicious sweet treats full of matcha goodness to go with your tea. The fresh green Matcha Pan are full of matcha goodness. They are made from 100% Japanese wheat, Hokkaido butter and milk. The mixture is left to rise at a low temperature over a long period of time. Afterwards, matcha from Shizuoka is added to the mix and then baked into muffins. This original and rare bread was developed with Baba FLAT – a café which sells very popular pastries and coffee in Takadanobaba, Tokyo. 

Craving more matcha? Enjoy both matcha and hōjicha at the same time in the form of a healthy snack: the Omatcha Brownie. The brownies are made from gluten-free rice flour and enjoy a moist texture and rich flavour.

Uji matcha, a high-quality and rich matcha used in tea ceremonies, is also used to make rich matcha ice cream (Koicha Gelato) and matcha cakes called “Sakecha Cakes” which combine tea and Japanese sake or brandy with cakes. The varieties of cake include matcha and Japanese sake, hōjicha and Japanese sake and black tea and brandy.

If you’re looking for a unique tea experience, look no further than CHAYA 1899 TOKYO.