STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

Drake Is Helping Finance New York's First Matcha Cafe to Go Nationwide

Drizzy's green tea beverages will be sold around the country.

A fun aspect of being a celebrity is having so much cash you don't know what to do with it. Faced with this unrelatable struggle, many celebrities turn to investing in companies — and sometimes they're random as hell.

Beyoncé backs WTRMLN WTR, an on-brand choice in light of her "Drunk in Love" lyric. (Which, by the way, reminds us — Happy National Watermelon Day!) We reported just last week that Serena Williams invested in Daily Harvest, a meal-kit delivery service. Now news has surfaced that Drake is helping finance MatchaBar, "New York’s first specialty matcha cafe," according to its website

So what is matcha, anyway? Allow us to explain. It's a green tea powder that, when combined with liquid (almond milk, coconut water, etc.), turns into a delightful beverage. Green tea contains loads of caffeine, so it's essentially an alternative to coffee. And unlike the way coffee's caffeine content hits you all at once, matcha is a more sustainable caffiene fix.

"There's anywhere from about 70 to 80 milligrams of caffeine per bottle that we serve or per cup that we sell at the cafe, and this is similar to about a shot of espresso," MatchaBar CEO and Co-Founder Graham Fortgang said. "The difference is with matcha, it's a sustained energy. It's actually released over a three- to four-hour period, rather than hitting you all at once. It's not necessarily less caffeine, it's how it interacts with your body. We call that sustained energy.

As far as celeb investments go, we must admit this is an obscure choice. Could matcha be Drake's secret antidote to naps? Will "Energy" soundtrack the eventual TV spots? We may not have answers to these questions, but we do know this: MatchaBar's beverages will be sold in Whole Foods nationwide come September.

Will you be trying MatchaBar's bottled beverages?

Latest News

Subscribe for BET Updates

Provide your email address to receive our newsletter.


By clicking Subscribe, you confirm that you have read and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. You also agree to receive marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers) and other information from BET and the Paramount family of companies. You understand that you can unsubscribe at any time.