ABOUT US
A story that grew slowly.
We are Tomáš and Anna Mária, classmates from primary school who were brought together by a dream of having our own café. Since we were seventeen, we kept saying to each other, almost subconsciously: “one day, when we have our own café...” Then suddenly we were 23, and reality was still far from our dreams.
Two different paths, one shared dream.
Our story did not happen overnight. It gradually came together through work, school, long journeys, exhaustion, doubts and the belief that one day we wanted to create something of our own.
Tomáš did his time as a welder in Germany. It was the classic rotation: 10 days in work overalls and 4 days at home. Germany gave us our starting capital, but the memories of those ten-hour journeys abroad, the cold mornings in the workshop and the feeling that you are simply ticking days off your life are a huge motivation for us to make Matchiareň successful. Money stops making sense when you have neither the time nor the people to enjoy it with.
They say that while studying medicine you barely have time to breathe, let alone work, and certainly not run a business. Anna Mária decided to prove that myth wrong. It requires intense time management and discipline, which, according to her, she does not really have—so perhaps all it takes is wanting it badly enough and not falling apart when things get difficult.
We did not want to be just another name in the crowd.
So how did the idea of focusing on matcha come about? For years, the plan had been to open a café. We love coffee and spending time in cafés, but Bratislava has already become a true coffee capital. The number of high-quality cafés per square kilometre is so high that we honestly admitted to ourselves that in the coffee world, we would simply be another one in the crowd. We would have to compete with dozens of others on price and increasingly aggressive marketing. But we wanted to build something out of pure passion.
At that time, we had started to enjoy matcha, but we did not know anyone else who drank it. Almost no cafés offered it, and when they did, it was often a sad, bitter drink full of lumps. Matcha was mostly served in tea houses, prepared ceremonially as pure powder whisked with water. While this respects Japanese tradition, it appeals to only a very small part of the population. It would never have created the kind of boom that could attract thousands of people and turn them into “matchaholics”.
Our vision was clear: we would prepare high-quality Japanese matcha with respect for tradition, but in a way that everyone could enjoy. We would create methods and recipes that would convince people they love matcha.
From complete beginners to a Japanese farm.
Reaching the matcha we use today was a process that took us from complete beginners to working directly with a Japanese farm. At the beginning, we knew absolutely nothing about B2B business, so we naively ordered matcha from ordinary online shops at retail prices, choosing brands we knew from TikTok were considered the best. Do not ask how much we paid in customs fees or whether we made any profit at all. Ouch.
At that time, information was not readily available to us, and we had to figure everything out ourselves because this kind of competition did not yet exist here. We made every beginner's mistake imaginable. And honestly, some of them cost us more money, nerves and sleep than we could have imagined at the time. But every mistake taught us something. Step by step, we began to understand how matcha works—from the quality of the leaves and the way they are processed to the correct preparation.
We started speaking with suppliers, asking questions, testing and tasting. Gradually, a system began to emerge from the chaos. And with it came greater confidence.
The moment we first spoke directly with a farm in Japan felt almost surreal. That was when we first realised that Matchiareň was truly becoming real.
We are still only at the beginning. Every day, we learn—about business, about people and about each other. Some days, we feel that everything is going exactly as it should. On other days, we wonder whether we have completely lost our minds. Yet it is somewhere between those two feelings that the things we are most proud of are created.
For us, Matchiareň has never been just about a drink. It is a reminder of our seventeen-year-old selves saying, “one day, we will have a café.”
And even though we may not run a traditional café today, we are building something that grew from the very same dream.
Two Matchiareň locations, two different rhythms.
MATCHIAREŇ DREVENÁ
Our first Matchiareň. Místo, které jsme si vlastnoručně vybudovali a do kterého jsme vložili všechno, čím Matchiareň je.
You will find it in the centre of Bratislava at Drevená 10, a peaceful retreat in the middle of the city.
It is a place where you can sit down, slow down and enjoy matcha at its best. Add delicious desserts, friendly service and an authentic atmosphere with attention to detail and comfort. An ideal place for meeting friends, enjoying quiet moments alone or creating small everyday rituals.
NIVY LOCATION
The Matchiareň location in the Nivy shopping centre was designed for life on the move. An aesthetically beautiful and visually striking kiosk that catches your eye immediately.
Nabízí několik míst k sezení a je ideální na takeaway – během nákupů, cestou domů nebo jen jako rychlá pauza během dne. Stejně kvalitní matcha, stejný důraz na chuť a přípravu, jen v praktičtější a rychlejší podobě. Matcha that goes with you.
GROUND FLOOR – KIOSK
