While it is certainly a favorite amongst hipster coffee shops and influencers, in Japan, matcha is an art form.
In the town of Uji, just south of Kyoto, is where you’ll find the best matcha in the world. It’s everywhere; at cafes, supermarkets, and souvenir shops.
At one teahouse, Nakamura Tokichi, named after the family who opened it in 1819, the matcha sold out within 20 minutes of opening.
Tea masters, like Tokichi, blend the tea leaves and it’s that blend that gets sold. The taste can be slightly different year to year.
Tokichi told Local 10 News he is happy to share the culture with others and the matcha boom has been good for business. But for others, it’s hard to keep up with the demand.
Nakamura Hiroharu, with Fukijuen Company, says it’s too crazy right now. If you go on their website to order Matcha, you’ll see most of it is sold out. There’s even a disclaimer saying they have to limit the amount a customer can buy.
According to Japan’s Agriculture Ministry data, last year, matcha accounted for more than half of the nearly 9,000 tons of green tea exported from Japan. That’s twice as much as 10 years ago.
In 2024, 78% of all powdered green tea exported from Japan went to the US, that’s according to the Trade Statistics of Japan Ministry of Finance.
To add to the complication: tariffs. President Trump signed an executive order Thursday, applying a baseline 15% tariff on nearly all Japanese imports.
Hiroharu says there’s no way around it, prices will go up. The best way to combat all of it is to create more.
However, farmers can’t expand their farms to make more because learning how to farm is passed down from generation to generation. It takes time to teach. While matcha might be a craze at the moment, lowering the quality is not an option. It’s a sacred part of Japanese tradition.
“Japanese tea is really unique. Tea associates to our culture. Drinking tea, at the same time, I calm my mind,” said tea instructor Mika Hasegawa.
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