Kalihi has a new morning stop. The Collective Cafe soft opened on Sunday, Nov. 1, and held its grand opening the next day, Aloha State Daily reported on Nov. 4. The hook: its coffee and matcha drinks come out of a tap.
The quick facts
- Where: 2300 N. King St., Honolulu (Kalihi), in the same lot as Mitsu-Ken
- Hours: 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily
- Sizes and prices: 10 ounces for $5.50, 18 ounces for $7.50
- Parking: Customer parking is available
- Online: Instagram @collectivecafehnl
Half cafe, half barbershop
The cafe sits right next to The Collective Barbershop. Co-owner Mike Vuong told Aloha State Daily the idea came together while he was helping a friend, the barbershop’s owner, look for space. The spot they found was a little too large for one shop, so they split it: part coffee bar, part barbershop. The barbershop crew also has a shop in ʻAiea, according to Vuong.
The on-tap concept was inspired by a New York City coffee shop known for its lattes on tap. Vuong said they spotted it on social media and figured hardly anyone in the islands was doing it yet.
What to order
According to Vuong, the black sesame coffee has been the most popular coffee drink so far, and the strawberry matcha and the “matcha cloud” are early favorites on the matcha side. The strawberry matcha latte gets a vanilla foam.
The cafe says it uses ceremonial-grade matcha in all of its matcha drinks, and the Vietnamese coffee can be smoothed out with oat milk or whole milk. Other lattes on the board include:
- Ube
- Banana cream
- Pistachio
- Biscoff, topped with a cookie butter foam
Every drink comes in the same two sizes, so the price math is easy: $5.50 for 10 ounces or $7.50 for 18 ounces.
Make it a Kalihi morning
Since the cafe shares a parking lot with Mitsu-Ken, the longtime okazuya famous for its garlic chicken, it’s easy to grab a plate and a latte in one stop. Plan around Mitsu-Ken’s short, morning-only hours (we’ve got the full story on Mitsu-Ken today).
“We just want everybody to come, enjoy what we’ve built here and enjoy some drinks,” Vuong told the paper.
Sources
- Aloha State Daily, “The Collective Cafe has coffee and matcha on tap” by Kelli Shiroma Braiotta (Nov. 4, 2026): https://alohastatedaily.com/2026/11/04/the-collective-cafe-has-coffee-and-matcha-on-tap/
Filed under Honolulu
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