Emeri started two years ago as a labour of love. The founding couple, Justin Ng and Josephine Au wanted to pin point their favourite matcha so they started taste-testing. What they discovered was not what they first expected.
A Green Dream
“We were both still working full time jobs,” Ng recalls. “We started as a passion project, just like sampling across kitchen tables.”
The goal, at least at first, was to pick the matcha that the majority liked most. They chose their Ceremonial blend and released it to somewhat positive reactions.
“The reception was,” as Ng calls it, “perplexing.” They were receiving less than warm feedback from matcha enthusiasts until they released they more nutty, more seaweed forward Special Reserve matcha. However, now their customer base was split, and they felt the pressure to decide on just one matcha.
“We took a step back, and this was like very stars align type of thing,” relates Ng, “I remember this moment fully. We went to Port Moody with some of our friends, and we went to a brewery. It was the four of us, and all of us just walked out with a different favourite.”
Something clicked. Maybe they didn’t need to choose just one matcha after all.
“We started realizing that there’s no perfect one. There just isn’t.”
So Ng and Au started sourcing as many different tasting matchas as they could.
Emeri meets their customers where they are. Whether you’re at the beginning of your matcha journey or you’re a seasoned expert, they want to help you find your favourite.
“Our whole philosophy was a journey of finding the matcha that suits you.”
It’s About Choice
Everyone has their own personal taste. When it comes to a beer flight or a wine tasting, the point for the producer is to show the broad range of their product. While the quest in the beginning for Emeri was to find the quintessential perfect matcha, Ng and Au realized that what is “perfect” differs from person to person. This range, this spectrum of preference, is now the basis of their brand.
When it came to serving the matchas they had sourced, Emeri started as a pop-up at Two Peas in a Pod Cafe at West 8th and Hemlock. They increasingly gained popularity, and the long lines only fuelled the fire.
“We didn’t think it would be a line out the door,” confesses Ng. While the volume was unexpected, it helped push the duo to refine their ideas about customer experience.
As of June, Emeri is open in their new permanent home on Main Street. Currently, they offer five different matchas as well as three hojichas.
If you don’t know what type of matcha to try, Emeri has a quiz on their website. Or, you can just stop by the cafe and put yourself in their expert hands. The team can guide you to find your favourite.
Terroir has a major impact with matcha, as it does with wine or coffee. Different regions and farms produce matchas with different flavour profiles. Those profiles can vary from year to year, even with harvests grown by the same farm.
“It’s still the exact same product,” Ng explains. “It’s just that maybe this year in Uji it got a bit more rain compared to last year.”
Emeri Is More Than Matcha
In terms of customer service, the team at Emeri takes their time, whether it be guiding customers through the ordering process or thoughtfully pausing before pouring a drink so that the moment can be captured on camera.
In addition to matcha served hot or iced, Emeri also has three flavours of their brand new matcha soft serve. Try the sweet and smooth Shizuoka which is lighter, or the Uji which is more roasty, nutty and slightly bitter in the best way, or a mix of both.
Looking ahead, Emeri is exploring food pairing options for their different matchas after they received feedback requesting more snacks. While they are still in the early stages of taste-testing, a limited menu is in the works.
Ng has palpable excitement when he talks about his plans for continuing to improve the cafe. He is also ever mindful of the customer experience. As much as customers are queried as to their thoughts so that staff can ensure they’ve “found their matcha,” their insight is also invaluable to Ng when it comes to making improvements.
“As you grow in scale, it’s very easy to lose track of who you are,” he acknowledges. This is why he and An have committed to a philosophy of better than before. As long as people leave Emeri happy having found the right matcha, they’re happy.
