Local ceremonial matcha pop‑up

ZC Tea has opened a pop-up matcha cart in Columbus’s Olde Towne East, adding a mobile tea stop to a neighborhood already building a matcha scene. (614now.com) (columbusunderground.com) The cart opened last week at 1313 E. Broad St. and is serving from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, according to 614NOW. Its menu includes pistachio, strawberry, and brown sugar matcha lattes, plus loose-leaf tea and espresso drinks. (614now.com) ZC Tea said the cart is part of a shift away from a larger storefront model. The company’s brick-and-mortar shop at 982 N. High St. closed in December 2025, and the business said the smaller setup cut fixed costs and let it focus on tea sourcing and wages. (614now.com) The company has described itself as a continuation of ZenCha Tea Salon with a mobile format. Roaming Hunger says ZenCha has been part of Ohio’s tea scene since 2006, and ZC Tea’s own site now points customers to online ordering, events, and multiple locations rather than a single flagship cafe. (roaminghunger.com) (zctea.co) The phrase “ceremonial matcha” is doing a lot of work in shops like this one. In tea terms, matcha is powdered green tea made from shade-grown leaves, and shading lowers astringency while producing the sweeter, more savory profile associated with higher-end matcha. (matcha.or.jp) (gjtea.org) Retailers often describe ceremonial matcha as powder made from younger or first-harvest leaves, with a brighter green color and smoother taste. Riching Matcha and other sellers use those markers to distinguish it from lower-priced matcha meant more for baking or sweetened drinks. (richingmatcha.com) (tasteoftea.com) But “ceremonial grade” is not a regulated standard. Best Matcha, a specialty retailer and educator, says no government or trade body defines the term, and that Japanese producers more often classify matcha by harvest, cultivar, region, and whether it is intended for thick tea or thin tea. (best-matcha.com) That gap between marketing language and tea classification has widened as matcha has spread beyond tea rooms and into cafes, carts, and social media. WTOP reported this month that matcha’s online boom has pushed a traditional drink into mainstream coffee-style service, often with less emphasis on ceremony than on flavor, color, and presentation. (wtop.com) In Columbus, ZC Tea is betting that a three-wheeled cart and a tighter menu can carry that demand. The company said the mobile model “finally matched the values,” and for now that means handoff service on East Broad Street instead of a full cafe. (614now.com)