Little Espresso Bar to Coffee Club: Mackay’s best and worst matcha revealed
Japanese green tea — matcha — is sweeping the state by storm, but how good does it taste in a regional Qld city? Watch an expert rate them herself.
Mackay
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It’s a little sweet, a little bitter, and very on-trend, but how good does it taste in a regional Queensland city?
Matcha — pronounced ma-chuh — is a finely ground powder of green tea with a distinct and sometimes deep green colouring, which comes from Japan.
Used in traditional tea ceremonies and as a flavouring/dye for sweet cakes and noodles it has become a staple ingredient in modern Japanese cuisine.
In 2024, hospitality veteran of more than 20 years Jessica Dobson, also known as ‘Matcha Jess’ created one of the first matcha menus in Mackay following a trip to Japan, where she completed a matcha certificate in the Kyoto region.
There are many different grades of matcha, with the highest grade ‘ceremonial’ coming from the youngest leaves of the tea plant and hand milled to bring out the natural sweetness, creamy texture and bright green colour.
Premium grade, while still handpicked, has a smooth texture, bitter grassy flavour and a dull green colour from being harvested at a later point.
Ms Dobson said she brought matcha to Mackay after witnessing how cafes “down south” experimented with matcha and flavours inspired by cultures around the world.
“I missed real matcha… I really wanted people to experience that journey of culture,” Ms Dobson said.
“I was given the opportunity to do so at Yaw Cafe and it’s inspiring to see the creativity and personalisation most of the businesses have put out.”
With experience in both tasting, grading and making matcha, we asked Ms Dobson who has the best matcha in Mackay and if it’s worth your time.
The Coffee Club, Caneland Central - Mango matcha latte $8.90
The Coffee Club brought matcha to their menu as part of a summer drinks campaign set to end March 18.
Upon tasting the iced matcha mango latte, Ms Dobson said it wasn’t her favourite.
“No mouth feel, no flavour, the mango was bland.”
Priced at $8.90, The Coffee Club’s iced mango latte is the most expensive beverage we reviewed despite being made from a lower quality matcha, earning it last place with 1/10.
Avenue Cafe, North Mackay - Blueberry matcha latte $6.60
At Avenue in North Mackay Ms Dobson was impressed by the quality of matcha they used, recognising a ceremonial matcha brand and said their iced blueberry matcha latte was smooth.
Despite this, it was let down by a lack of mouth feel and somewhat bland flavouring, with Ms Dobson giving it a 6/10.
Bing Cha, Victoria St - Strawberry matcha $7.50
Ms Dobson next hit up Victoria St in the CBD heading to Bing Cha, a bubble tea shop which also serves matcha items on the menu.
She ordered their most popular drink the iced strawberry matcha and found it to have “no mouth feel” and “no real flavour” only scoring a 5/10.
“The strawberries saved it,” she said.
Little Espresso Bar, Victoria St - Matcha latte $7.90
Heading next door to the Little Espresso Bar, which opened in early 2025, Ms Dobson found the cream of the crop when it came to Mackay matcha.
The regular iced matcha latte was poured into a milk frother to create a fluffy texture to the drink and served slightly sweetened.
Ms Dobson gave it a glowing review of 10/10, saying the mouth feel, flavour and technique of preparation were 10/10.
“Honestly, absolutely, delicious, fluffy as hell, beautifully prepared... it is a very good quality matcha this one,” she said.
“Actually reminds me of Japan.”
Wal Wal, West Mackay - Matcha latte $6.50
Over in Parkside Plaza West Mackay, a Korean street food kiosk also serves matcha, topping their iced lattes with Korean cream.
“The colour looks incredible, it looks like a very ceremonial grade matcha,” she said.
This turned out to be another 10/10 as Ms Dobson raved about the flavour and quality, although she said it was slightly inferior to the Mini Espresso Bar in terms of mouth feel.
Roots Collective, Sarina - Matcha latte $5.10, Iced matcha $4.00
Matcha hasn’t only spread to Mackay however reaching as far south as the Roots Collective in Sarina.
Ms Dobson to the family run bistro arrived excited to try both their iced matcha latte and their hot matcha latte.
“That’s actually not too bad... quite interesting,” she said, taking her first sips.
“Spicy, had a hint of cinnamon and just didn’t work … tasted more chai than matcha.”
Roots Collective scored a 5/10.
Overall, according to Matcha Jess, the best matcha in Mackay can be found at Little Espresso Bar on Victoria St for $7.90.
The runner up was Wal Wal, which sells their iced matcha latte for $6.50.
What do you think? Did we miss your favourite cafe? Email me your recs for our next review at fergus.gregg@news.com.au
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