Ela Matcha is a matcha bar founded by actor and entrepreneur Rachel David, now open in Kochi after launching in Bengaluru. Inspired by the combination of a Malayali chayakada and a Japanese kissaten, the cafe occupies a renovated traditional Kerala home with communal seating and industrial interiors. Its menu features Japanese matcha paired with regional ingredients like filter coffee, Wayanad vanilla, tender coconut, jaggery, turmeric and saffron, alongside Kerala snacks such as banana chips, jackfruit chips and rose cookies.
Matcha has been around for centuries, long before social media turned it into a global cafe obsession, complete with expensive lattes and photogenic green swirls. Its roots lie in China, where powdered tea was whisked into hot water during the Song dynasty (960–1279), before the practice travelled to Japan and developed into the matcha we know today. By the sixteenth century, it had become central to chanoyu, the Japanese tea ceremony. Across Asia, tea has also always had a place in everyday social life, from neighbourhood tea stalls to Kerala’s chayakadas, where people gather over a cup and a plate of snacks. Kochi’s Ela Matcha brings these traditions into conversation, imagining what might happen if an old-school Malayali tea shop and a Japanese kissaten shared a home.
Founded by actor and entrepreneur Rachel David, Ela Matcha opened its first counter in Bengaluru’s Indiranagar around six months ago before expanding to Kochi with what it describes as the city’s first dedicated matcha bar. The name comes from the Malayalam word for leaf, inspired by the banana leaf used during an Onam sadya. Rachel sources ceremonial-grade Japanese matcha from Shizuoka, bringing it into a menu shaped by her Malayali roots. The Kochi outlet occupies a revamped traditional Kerala home, where exposed brick, wood, steel and canvas meet the building’s original architectural character. The industrial materials give the space a contemporary edge while keeping its heritage structure at the centre.
Long communal benches and simple stools encourage people to share tables, strike up conversations and get comfortable around strangers. Rachel has drawn on the familiarity of school days and neighbourhood tea shops, where conversation often starts over a drink and people naturally make room for one another. Modern cafe culture can make spending time around other people feel strangely isolating, with everyone tucked into their own corners. At Ela, the shared seating makes socialising feel easier, whether you come with friends or by yourself.
The drinks bring local ingredients into the matcha menu, served with creamy oat milk and naturally sweetened with jaggery. The Filter Kaapi Matcha combines roasted South Indian coffee with green tea, while the Kerala Vanilla Matcha uses vanilla beans sourced from Wayanad. Tender Coconut Matcha, along with blends featuring turmeric and saffron, rounds out the menu. You can pair your drink with kadi like banana chips, jackfruit chips and rose cookies, served in simple steelware. By bringing Japanese tea together with familiar Kerala flavours and the easy hospitality of a chayakada, Ela gives Kochi a new place to gather over a cup.
Follow Ela Matcha here.
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