As the first luxury Korean matcha house in the UK, TOKKIA is setting a high standard. This week, The Plum Edit team headed to the rabbit-themed tea house, its intimate setting providing a welcome break from the bustle of Covent Garden.
When you walk into TOKKIA, you’re greeted by baristas with rabbit pins on their aprons. Tokki in Korean means ‘hey bunny’, a call that’s both friendly and curious.
Sooji Im is the entrepreneur behind this new opening, a fresh step following Be-oom, her former tea house in Exmouth Market. TOKKIA was inspired by Im’s bunny, Hazelnut, with the aim of creating a "rabbit hole" environment where anybody and everybody feels welcome.
The matcha house brings the culture and traditions of tea making straight from South Korea, with all their equipment and bronzeware, also called bangjja, imported from the source. They also take a firm stance on sourcing only the best matcha and hojicha powders from South Korea to provide the highest quality ingredients to their guests.
Once you order your drink, they prepare each ingredient in front of you, inviting you into the process to experience the tea making itself. This is an important step in the experience, as it is an action that respects the tea and the traditions behind it.
Another staple of TOKKIA is its signature salt bread; it's warm, crunchy, and yet still soft on the inside. It's a great choice for a midday pick-me-up.
Every month, they include a seasonal flavor that highlights the energy of the current month or a specific fruit of the season. Last month celebrated the flavors of persimmon, featuring a Persimmon Cinnamon Matcha Iced Latte, while this month showcases injeolmi vanilla. A little bunny told me next month’s flavor might also be a fruit variety.
Luckily for us, all of their matcha, hojicha, and bangjja are available in-store for purchase. TOKKIA is somewhere you can always stop to take a breath before heading back out into the bustling city; perhaps you’ll even get lucky and bump into Hazelnut herself?
Images: TOKKIA
