After graduating from university with a nursing degree, Dominik, the founder of Adelaide’s Miko Matcha realised that his passion lay elsewhere, turning his love of matcha and baking into a small pop-up at home, expecting it to be a one-off project.
Four months later, Miko Matcha is preparing for back-to-back Adelaide collaborations, with a Chinatown pop-up this Sunday at Kappo Adelaide before a two-day appearance at the 88 Bazaar market the following weekend.
“I finished university and studied nursing, but I don’t want to be a nurse,” Dominik said.
“I love matcha, obviously, and I love baking. I had so much time on my hands, so I thought, ‘Why not start something?’”
He already had some experience around Adelaide’s matcha and pop-up scene through friends, who encouraged him to pursue something he was passionate about.
“I honestly wasn’t expecting much,” he said.
“I thought it was going to be a one-off thing at my house. When I hosted my first event at my house, I did not expect it to be so busy.”
“Then I thought, ‘You know what? Let me invest more in it, see if I like it and try to scale it bigger.’ Maybe I could do this as a proper side hustle.”
For Dominik, the appeal is not simply building a business, he genuinely enjoys making the drinks and food and seeing people enjoy them.
“I love seeing my friends and other people happy after they try what I’ve made. It really makes me happy,” he said.
Since launching four months ago, Miko’s menu has continued to evolve, with Dominik aiming to introduce something different each month.
While creative matcha drinks have become increasingly popular, he wants Miko’s drinks to keep the flavour of the matcha at the centre.
“I don’t want it to be too much of a dessert drink. I want the matcha to shine,” he said.
“I like it when the matcha, or the powder I use, stands out more. I try to keep my drinks simple, but not too simple or boring.”
His approach has been influenced by trips to Japan, where he found the matcha and hojicha drinks aligned more closely with his own preference for simplicity.
Miko previously used Marukyu Koyamaen’s Wako, a first-harvest matcha from Uji, but has since switched to a powder from Kagoshima.
He said the new powder has a stronger flavour profile and has received positive feedback from customers.
“There are a lot of other places where it’s almost like a dessert drink,” he said.
“But I really want to focus on and highlight matcha for what it is.”
The drinks are only part of Miko’s offering.
Dominik initially started with matcha tiramisu, combining his Italian and Asian heritage with his love of baking.
“I’m part Italian, so I know how to make a good tiramisu. But because I’m also part Asian, I wanted to incorporate Asian flavours into the tiramisu, so I started off doing that.”
He has since expanded into baking more regularly; “I’m making cookies and salt breads, and I have plans to put out Basque cheesecakes at the next couple of pop-ups,” he said.
The salt breads and several new cookie flavours will make their soft launch at Miko’s upcoming Chinatown collaboration this Sunday.
The event will see Miko team up with home bakery Omoya at Kappo in Chinatown, before the business heads to The Market Shed on Holland Street for the two-day 88 Bazaar market on September 26 and 27.
Miko’s growing list of collaborations reflects just how quickly the business has developed since that first home event.
Dominik has also collaborated with other Adelaide businesses, including Bakeryeee and Bake Mimi, and said he now expects to have an event booked almost every weekend throughout October.
“It’s going to be a busy couple of months,” he said.
That growing passion has also changed what he sees as possible for the business.
“I might try to see where this goes and maybe pursue opening my own little joint one day and doing it for a living,” he said.
Miko Matcha
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