Matcha: Analyzing 2,282 teas from 121 sellers

Matcha is stone-ground powder made from shade-grown tencha — the same leaf class used before grinding, but consumed whole rather than steeped and discarded. Shading boosts umami and sweetness; grinding the leaf into powder means you drink the entire leaf suspended in water.

In our latest data, Japan accounts for 94% of matcha with a named origin — especially Kyoto, Shizuoka, and Kagoshima.

Matcha is whisked, not steeped — sift the powder into a bowl, add water, and whisk with a chasen until frothy.

1. Sift 1–2 g of matcha into a bowl to break up clumps.
2. Add 60–80 ml of water at 70–80°C (not boiling — cooler water reduces bitterness).
3. Whisk vigorously with a bamboo chasen in a W motion until a fine foam forms on the surface.
4. Drink immediately from the bowl; matcha does not re-steep like loose-leaf tea.

Grade and intended use matter more than with loose-leaf tea. Ceremonial grades suit drinking straight; culinary grades target lattes and baking. About 27% of what we track names a cultivar and 35% names a producer or garden.

Origin signals quality — Kyoto and Uji appear often on premium lots. Always compare price per gram; matcha packs are small and per-100g pricing varies enormously across grades.

Okumidori, Yabukita, and Saemidori are the cultivars we see most often on documented lots. Titles also distinguish ceremonial vs culinary grade, organic vs conventional, and single-cultivar vs blend.

Koicha (thick tea) and usucha (thin tea) preparation grades appear on some premium listings. Latte-grade and ingredient matcha fill the lower price band — use the browse table below to compare.

Japan accounts for 94% of matcha with a named origin. Kyoto leads — including Uji, the historic center of Japanese matcha — followed by Shizuoka and Kagoshima.

The best-documented lots name a specific prefecture, garden, or cooperative. Some sellers describe tencha shaded for several weeks before harvest and stone-ground on site.

Matcha typically tastes umami-forward, sweet, and creamy — the concentrated expression of shaded Japanese green tea drunk as whole leaf. Bitterness varies by grade and whisking technique.

Ceremonial grades tend toward smooth umami with little astringency; culinary grades can be bolder and better suited to milk or sugar. The cultivar and shading duration shape the profile as much as the grade label.

Tencha — the leaf that becomes matcha — is shaded for several weeks before harvest, steamed, dried flat without rolling, then de-stemmed and stone-ground into fine powder. The shading and grinding steps define the category.

Traditional stone mills produce finer powder than machine grinding; either way, freshness matters — matcha oxidizes after opening. Organic and single-estate claims appear on about 41% of what we track.

Matcha mostly sits between $31.74 and $133.75 per 100g, with a median of $69.25 — the highest price band among the Japanese greens we track. Ceremonial grades push well above the median; culinary grades can sit lower.

Sort the browse table by price per gram to compare on equal footing. Grade, origin, and cultivar all move price — a small tin of ceremonial Uji matcha can cost several times more per gram than a bulk culinary lot.