Matcha — a inexperienced tea powder deeply rooted in Japanese tea ceremonies — has surged in U.S. recognition lately. Its vibrant inexperienced colour has develop into a social media staple, flaunted by influencers and wellness-conscious shoppers.

Performative as it might appear, matcha can be addictively scrumptious — at the least to some. To others, it simply tastes like grass. However as anybody who has developed a behavior for the earthy beverage will inform you, it’s additionally extremely costly.

I couldn’t probably rely how a lot I’ve paid for matcha since I first began ingesting it in 2020 and if I might, I’d be embarrassed. In a second of weak point, I as soon as spent $11.50 on a latte, an unusually excessive worth even for New York Metropolis, the place I reside.

However like several consumables, there’s no worth ceiling — particularly throughout a scarcity, as with matcha. A restricted provide mixed with steep new U.S. tariffs might make each your — and my — each day repair that rather more costly.

Matcha represents a small portion of the U.S. tea market, says Peter Goggi, president of the Tea Affiliation of USA, a commerce group representing U.S. tea pursuits.

“The U.S. is very predominantly a black tea–drinking nation, and more than 70% of the tea consumed here is iced tea,” says Goggi. “So we’re a very different market than any other tea-consuming market in the world.”

Goggi says that matcha represents roughly 2.8% of the U.S. tea market by {dollars} — and even smaller by weight. On the finish of the day, matcha is simply powdered tencha leaves, which may be served scorching or chilly with water and as a latte with milk. Even so, the value can fluctuate drastically on the shelf and in cafes relying on the situation and sort of matcha served.

Chains aren’t any exception. Starbucks’s grande iced matcha latte prices $6.80 at my close by Starbucks in Brooklyn. My colleagues logged $5.25 in Ann Arbor, Mich.; $5.89 in Tucker, Ga.; $5.95 in Ripon, Calif.; and $6.01 in Seattle. The espresso tremendous big just lately added an upcharge for extra matcha powder.

For those who make matcha at house, the value for a tin or bag of powder varies drastically by model and quantity, but additionally by tea leaf grade, which is used as an unofficial classification within the tea business. One ounce of matcha could make roughly 14 servings of tea.

• Ceremonial: First-harvest tencha leaves grown in shade for as much as 4 weeks earlier than handpicking. It’s then floor right into a high quality powder with a brilliant inexperienced hue. Ceremonial grade tea can solely be sourced in Japan. It’s the costliest of the three grades. You should purchase, on the lowest finish, ceremonial grade for round $30 an oz, however the highest high quality powders can go for as much as $6,000 per pound, in line with Goggi.  

• Prepared-to-drink: Made with second-harvest tencha leaves. It falls someplace between culinary grade and ceremonial grade in style and price. The powder seems to be much less vibrant than ceremonial grade, however nonetheless clearly a vivid inexperienced.  

• Culinary: The bottom value matcha and is supposed for use in cooking and baking. The tencha leaves utilized in culinary grade matcha are usually older — third-harvest or extra. The colour of the powder is often a boring brownish-green colour. A typical bag of the powder can value anyplace from $10 to $25 per ounce. 

Like most shortages, matcha’s comes down to provide and demand. On this case, demand has boomed, largely as a consequence of social media developments and enchantment for health-minded shoppers, says Goggi. “At this point, the pressure is almost all on matcha,” he provides.

The International Japanese Tea Affiliation (GJTA) stories that Japanese tea exports have grown from 1% of the nation’s complete manufacturing within the early 2000s to roughly 10% by the top of 2023. And in 2024, half of the 8,798 metric tons of inexperienced tea exported from Japan was matcha, in line with Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

In Kyushu, one among Japan’s 4 essential islands, tea exports grew by 24% in 2024, largely as a consequence of matcha’s recognition, the GJTA stated. The U.S. is its key export market.

Native producers in Japan are overwhelmed, at the same time as suppliers have expanded to different nations together with China and India. However ceremonial matcha, by definition, can solely be produced in Japan, which places added stress on suppliers.

“It’s one of the few teas you can’t just ‘turn on the spout’ and make more of,” says Goggi. “It requires very specific treatment before harvest, and that takes time.”

The seasonality of matcha manufacturing makes it tougher to satisfy year-round demand. Tencha crops take 5 years to mature and are picked yearly — in springtime. The very best grade matcha requires a certain quantity of shading earlier than it is picked with a purpose to increase chlorophyll and L-theanine, which have an effect on its colour and taste. After choosing, the leaves have to be steamed, dried, sorted, slowly floor up utilizing stone mills and packaged.

“Matcha only represents about 7% to 8% of total tea production in Japan, but Japan really owns the market,” says Goggi. “The entire infrastructure of tea production has declined mainly because of the aging of people involved in the tea business. Most of these farms are family-owned tea farms, so there’s a lot of pressure on tea consumption and production in Japan.”

Producing matcha is a labor-intensive course of and there aren’t sufficient employees to satisfy the demand, says Goggi. The downward development is basically as a consequence of an growing old inhabitants in agriculture as fewer younger employees are opting to enter tea farming.

Like most agriculture, matcha farmers additionally battle with the results of local weather change, together with excessive warmth which stunts manufacturing. Final yr was Japan’s hottest yr on document and July marked the nation’s highest month on document.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that his tariffs will increase home manufacturing and manufacturing. However agricultural imports are completely different and U.S. manufacturing received’t have the ability to change Japanese provide.

“[Tea farms in the U.S.] represent 0.02% of what’s consumed in the U.S. — so it’s virtually nothing,” says Goggi. “There’s no way that the U.S. can ever be a large enough tea producer to satisfy domestic demand.”

It’s the identical story with different agricultural merchandise, like bananas or espresso. Sure, the U.S. grows some, however nowhere close to the size wanted to satisfy client demand. That implies that imports stay important.

The Tax Basis tasks that 75% of all meals imports will likely be impacted by tariffs, and says these tariffs will result in larger costs for shoppers.

Matcha is primarily sourced from Japan, which faces a 15% tariff. Secondary producers face even larger tariffs — India was just lately slapped with a 50% tariff, whereas China presently has a 30% tariff, which might go up if a deal isn’t reached.

Until distributors or retailers swallow the added value, matcha costs will possible rise on retailer cabinets, your on-line cart and at your native cafe. Tariffs, mixed with Japan’s manufacturing limits, might push costs even larger.

“Ultimately, the price of tea will have to absorb these tariffs,” says Goggi. “And that happens on the shelf — consumers will pick it up.”

(Picture by Justin Sullivan/Getty Photos Information by way of Getty Photos)