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On Thursday, I popped into my local Cha Cha Matcha to check out their MALK collab, and quickly realized I had walked straight into a banana matcha dream.
The collaboration ran as a four-day activation from April 2–5 in both LA and NYC, centered around one drink, a Banana Cream Iced Matcha Latte made with MALK’s new coconut-based creamer. The setup felt really inviting, with people hanging around, trying the drink, and actually enjoying it instead of rushing in and out. It had an easy, casual energy to it.
The drink was clearly the moment. The baristas were making them nonstop, topping each one with a soft cream layer, two mini Nilla cookies, and a maraschino cherry, and every single person was stopping to take it in before that first sip. It had a nostalgic banana pudding feel, but still felt balanced with the matcha coming through.
I met some of the sweetest MALK team members who were handing out banana matcha keychains, gingham mini totes, yellow custom sweaters, and boxes of MALK, and everyone there genuinely seemed to be having the best time. It was the best introduction to something new.
In the moment, I was just enjoying the drink and the pop-up, but walking away, what really stayed with me was how game-changing the product actually is and how naturally it could fit in my day-to-day life.
I drink matcha at home twice a day, so I’m very aware of what’s usually missing. My almond milk has never really delivered that highly-coveted creamy finish, and while oat milk does, I stopped drinking it about a year ago after going down a full spiral of gut inflammation. Since then, I’ve just adjusted, accepting that my matcha wouldn’t quite hit the same.
That gap feels even more obvious when ordering out. If you live in LA, you know the words “einspänner” and “cream top” sit at the tip of your tongue when you’re ordering, but almost none of my shameless go-to LA spots (hello Community Goods) offer an alternative version. So there’s always been that slight disconnect between how I want my matcha to feel and what I can actually get.
MALK’s coconut creamer closed that gap in a way that feels very real for everyday use. It gives my matcha lattes a solid cream top at home, without needing dairy and without relying on anything overly processed. For me, this felt like a life hack being unlocked in real time.
Because if you’re someone who actually cares about your milk alternatives, this feels like a small feasible upgrade that changes everything. It’s not just another alt milk option, it solves a texture problem that most of us have just been working around.
And honestly, don’t make fun of me if I pull up to Community Goods, order my usual iced vanilla matcha, and add my own MALK cream top when I get home, because that might be exactly what happens.
