The three signature drinks sitting on the bar of Enchantea, a matcha and tea bar. Credit: Natalie Boggs | Arts and Life Photo Editor
A familiar matcha and tea bar is reopening to the University District, featuring a revived menu offering a range of flavors, textures and uses of tea — proving it to be more than just a traditional drink.
Enchantea reopened Sept. 25 at 811 Bethel Rd. with an expanded menu, new cocktail program and concept the business is calling “Enchantea 2.0.” The original Enchantea operated in a smaller space and primarily offered beverages, including matcha drinks, said manager ZiLin Chen. The new location expands that focus through tea-inspired desserts, gelato, layered cakes, financiers, chocolates and cocktails.
“We’re making a statement that matcha is not a trend ingredient,” Chen said. “It’s a foundation. When we say more than matcha, we mean it, literally.”
Menus featuring matcha drinks and teas hang from display at Enchantea, a matcha and tea bar. Credit: Natalie Boggs | Arts and Life Photo Editor
The first menu collection, “Dream of Tea,” includes items such as matcha layered cakes, hojicha financier, tea mousse and tea-flavored gelato. Chen said Enchantea plans to introduce additional collections every few months.?
“We really value tea as an experience and a lifestyle, as well as a medium,” Chen said.?
The business also operates a tea farm in Yunnan, China, where its matcha is grown. Chen said a team in China manages the farm while the Columbus team operates the physical store and works with U.S. clients.?
Enchantea’s owner was born and raised in Yunnan, a region with a 1,300-year-old history of tea cultivation, Chen said. Controlling the business’s tea source allows the team to track how the leaves are harvested and processed before being used in drinks and food.?
Chen said the expansion will continue after the daytime cafe experience ends.
Beginning at 5 p.m., the space will transition into Tea After Dark, a cocktail program built around tea and other Asian-inspired flavors. Chen said the shift will include changes to the lighting, music, menu and overall atmosphere.?
Head bartender Jericho Ise said he has bartended in Columbus for approximately 10 years, and he approaches bartending from a culinary and scientific perspective. At Enchantea, he said that has involved experimenting with different ways to brew and incorporate tea into cocktails.?
“I just decided [to] go crazy,” Ise said. “They trusted me, and it really worked out for us.”
The top view of the three signature drinks at Enchantea. Credit: Natalie Boggs | Arts and Life Photo Editor
Ise said he wanted the drinks to stand out and become a staple in Columbus without making the flavors too unfamiliar for customers. One cocktail, Zhangcha Ya, is inspired by Chinese tea-roasted duck, but is adapted into an entirely vegan drink.?
Working with tea required extensive experimentation because alcohol can extract flavors differently than water, Ise said. Depending on the drink, he uses methods such as Kōridashi, a Japanese method of brewing green tea that uses ice to extract, to emphasize floral or deeper flavors.?
Ise said Tea After Dark is also about creating a gathering spot for customers, beyond the traditional daytime cafe.?
He said he wants the program to function as a “third space,” giving people somewhere to relax and spend time.?
“Tea After Dark is allowing us to take the relaxing nature of tea time and combine that with a typical late-night, very vibing atmosphere,” Ise said.?
The bar is also following a “no-waste” approach, Ise said. Fresh produce is processed the day it is used, and byproducts are incorporated as garnishes or ingredients on the menu. The shop? repurposes banana peels, for example, into banana oleo saccharum, a simple syrup used in cocktails.
For Chen, the wider menu and nighttime program still center around the same goal of showing customers that tea can be more than a drink.
“We want them to know that tea is more than just a product,” Chen said. “It’s an experience, and it’s also a way [to find] community.”
