The Matcha Files: Inside Coco Lab 172's Green Tea Division

Not every experiment at Coco Lab 172 involves espresso. Tucked inside The Liquid Energy is a smaller, quieter research division, one running on green tea instead of coffee beans. Call it the Matcha Files: six drinks, one shared base, six very different outcomes.

Sample One: Matcha Latte

The control group of the division. Matcha Latte, hot or iced, is where the lab tests the fundamentals: how the matcha behaves against steamed milk with nothing else competing for attention. No fruit, no theatrics, just a clean read on whether the base formula holds up. It does, which is why everything else in the division gets to exist. There's a version for every mood too: order it hot on a slower morning, or iced when the day calls for something that keeps its structure a little longer. Either way, the matcha itself is the star, not buried under sweetness or fruit, which is exactly the point of a control group.

Sample Two: Coconut Milk Matcha

A variation on the control group, swapping dairy for coconut milk. The result is rounder and slightly sweeter than the original, the coconut softening the matcha's natural sharpness without covering it up entirely. It's the version for anyone who wants the fundamentals of the Matcha Latte with a gentler finish, proof that changing one variable can shift the whole outcome without needing to reinvent the formula.

Sample Three: Strawberry Matcha

Here's where the division starts taking risks. Strawberry Matcha layers fruit into the base formula, producing something that looks more like a lab result gone slightly rogue, in the best way. More components, more moving parts, more to get right. The strawberry doesn't just sweeten the matcha, it sits alongside it, giving the drink two distinct flavor notes instead of one blended one. This is the order for anyone who wants their afternoon pick-me-up to feel like a small event rather than a routine.

Sample Four: Mango Matcha

The natural counterpart to the strawberry variant, swapping in mango for a completely different profile: brighter, sweeter, more tropical. If Strawberry Matcha is the popular result, Mango Matcha is the one that convinces skeptics the whole division is onto something. It's the drink that tends to win over people who claim they "don't really like matcha," proof that the right pairing changes the whole experiment.

Sample Five: Matcha Vitamin C

The division's most unexpected pairing: matcha and orange juice, run together in the same glass. It shouldn't work on paper, earthy green tea meeting bright citrus, but the combination lands as something genuinely refreshing rather than confusing. Consider it the division's wildcard hypothesis, the one that looked risky in the notebook and turned out to be one of the more interesting results.

Sample Six: Matcha with Passion Fruit Cold Foam

The most elaborate build in the lineup: a full Matcha Latte topped with a passion fruit cold foam. The foam sits over the top rather than blending in, so the first sip comes through bright and tart before settling into the matcha underneath. It's less a drink than a two-part experience, and the closest thing the division has to a signature flourish.

Findings

Six drinks, one shared green-tea foundation, six distinct outcomes: that's a properly run set of trials. The Matcha Files prove The Liquid Energy isn't just an espresso department wearing a lab coat. It's running parallel research, and the results hold up on their own.

Available daily, 08:30 to 21:00, at Carrer Gran de Gràcia, 172, or until the lab runs out of carbs. Dogs welcome at every station, no separate clearance required.