Haki first tea pop-up in Kensington
Our First Matcha Pop-Up in Kensington 🌿
Summer is around the corner.
Which means only one thing:
More sun. More matcha.
And honestly… what better place to celebrate that than an open-air pop-up market in Kensington?
Last weekend Haki packed the matcha bowls, loaded the gazebo, and did what we love most:
Serving bright green matcha, deep roasted hojicha, and hopefully bringing a little joy to people walking by.
And if there’s one thing we learned…
Kensington has one of the warmest crowds around.
The Early Morning Start ☀️
Pop-ups might look relaxed and casual…
But the day actually started very early.
Our alarm went off at 5:30 AM.
Why so early?
Because behind every small market stall there’s a surprising amount of work:
Driving to the location
Unloading equipment
Setting up the gazebo
Preparing ingredients
Organising the table
Making sure everything actually works
By the time 10 AM arrived, we were tired… but excited.
After all, this was our very first pop-up.
The First 30 Minutes… Nothing Happened
The market opened.
People walked past.
The sun was still hiding behind clouds.
And for the first 30 minutes…
Nothing.
Not a single order.
Total nada.
But markets are funny like that.
As soon as the sun started appearing, the whole atmosphere changed.
More smiles, more curious glances… and then suddenly:
Our first order arrived.
We were so excited we barely remember what it was.
But we're pretty sure it was either:
or a Jasmine Matcha Latte.
Either way, it felt like winning the lottery.
🌿 Drink of the Day
Jasmine Matcha Latte
Without question the most popular drink of the day.
People kept coming back to it again and again.
The floral jasmine paired with matcha turned out to be a real crowd favourite.
Sometimes customers even ordered it after tasting someone else's drink nearby.
Word travels fast at markets.
The Curious Case of Hojicha
Something interesting happened with our Hojicha Latte.
It wasn’t nearly as popular as matcha.
But not because people didn’t like it.
Mostly because people asked:
“Wait… what is hojicha?”
For many visitors it was their first time hearing about roasted Japanese green tea.
That actually turned into one of the best parts of the day —
talking with people, explaining the tea, and sharing the story behind it.
It also made us think about how we can educate people more through our menu and storytelling.
Because once people try hojicha…
They usually love it.
Crowd Moment of the Day
One of the nicest surprises was how supportive people were.
So many visitors told us things like:
"This is the best matcha I've tried."
"Your recipes are delicious."
And honestly…
That was the biggest reward of the day.
Not sales.
Feedback. Feedback and just the love and smiles of the people what was made it feel worthwhile
Shoutouts We Have to Give 🙌
Running a pop-up is never a solo effort.
A big thank you to:
Judy’s for organising such a fantastic market
Our friends who came to support us
Murat, who saved the day by helping us with weights for our gazebo (wind is real!)
We genuinely felt a lot of support from people around us.
Lesson of the Day
Like any first event, we learned a lot.
Especially about:
systems
organisation
workflow behind the stall
And that's actually exciting.
Because every pop-up teaches you something.
Which means the next one will be even better.
What We Learned About Pop-Up Markets
Before doing this, we didn’t realise how special these markets really are.
They’re full of:
passionate creators
independent food businesses
interesting products
supportive communities
And people genuinely trying to build something meaningful.
If you’ve never visited a local pop-up market before, we highly recommend it.
You might discover something amazing.
What’s Next for Haki?
We absolutely loved the experience.
The nerves.
The first order.
The conversations.
The feedback.
Everything.
And if all goes well…
You’ll probably see us again at another pop-up in May.
More matcha powder.
More hojicha powder.
More genmaicha powder.
And hopefully even more smiling faces.
