Tucked into Portland's West End, Mako Matcha Mill has already become a downtown magnet, with tea leaves ground to order behind the counter and bright, budget-friendly matcha fueling long weekend lines. The compact stone mill on the bar, paired with the owners' claim that they have grown tencha in Oregon, gives the place the feel of a working lab more than a standard café. That setup shapes the menu, which sticks close to pure matcha served straight, with milk, or as an inexpensive latte, offering a local spin on a drink many Portlanders are used to buying preground from Japan.
According to Portland Mercury, Mako opened in mid-February at 414 SW 13th Avenue and is co-owned by Edison Zeng and Emily Dewey, who spent years working with tea farmers and milling equipment before opening their own spot. "We want to represent their tea in a good light, in the way it’s supposed to be consumed," Zeng told the paper. The Mercury also points out that the shop took over the former Cacao space and has quickly become a weekend hot spot, with lines to match.
Growing Matcha In Oregon
The owners say they teamed up with Salem-based Minto Island Tea Company to grow an experimental batch of tencha, the shaded leaf used to make matcha. That collaboration marks one of the rare attempts to both produce and mill tencha in the United States. Local reporting first highlighted the partnership and the plan to mill Oregon-grown tencha for retail and in-store demonstrations, per Bridgetown Bites.
What You'll Find At The Counter
Portland Mercury describes a small granite stone mill behind the bar that produces only about 15 grams per hour in demonstration batches, mainly so customers can watch the process while larger quantities are milled off-site. Axios notes that 12-ounce matcha lattes start at about $4, a price point that helps explain the steady traffic. The menu keeps things tight and focused: matcha straight or with milk, hojicha, and a short list of rotating teas. Staff have also teased soft-serve experiments built around concentrated tea blends, a sign they are not done playing with the format.
On May 7, Mako landed a segment on KOIN's "Everyday Northwest," where host Ally Osborne talked with Zeng, Dewey and collaborator Daisy Erskine about the business's American matcha experiments, as reported by KOIN. The appearance underscores how quickly the shop has evolved into both a café and a low-key classroom for matcha fans curious about how their drink gets from leaf to cup.
The broader backdrop is harder to ignore. Recent industry coverage has tracked a squeeze on high-grade matcha from Japan, and outlets such as Forbes report that surging demand and tight harvest cycles have strained supply. Mako's experiment is not positioned as a replacement for decades of Japanese production, but local growing and small-batch milling could give Portlanders fresher, potentially more affordable options and hint at a slow shift toward more diversified sources for ceremonial-grade teas.
