Matcha, the finely ground, vibrant green powder, has recently become a global sensation, and adding hot water to the powder creates a rich, creamy concoction that has taken over people’s feeds on Instagram and TikTok.
Matcha has a few health benefits that could help kickstart your day. The smooth caffeinated refreshment is a healthier alternative to daily morning coffees. Some boba cafés have matcha as their highest selling menu item, with matcha popularity correlating with its price rise in real time.
The popularity of matcha has surged because of social media from 2019 to the present leading to numerous cafés and restaurants adding matcha themed drinks and desserts to their menus.
Because of the popularity spike, the United States and Japan, both major consumers of green tea, are facing matcha shortages, therefore making the price of the cheap mixture skyrocket.
As a result of this surge in popularity, the United States and Japan, both major consumers of matcha, are experiencing it firsthand. The substantial rise of matcha made it so the historically cheap powder has become scarce.
The pleasing flavor of matcha could be described as herbal, nutty and sweet with a hint of a savory aftertaste. I enjoy it because of the consistency, with the beverage being a smooth, milky taste and leaves for a satisfying sip time after time. The powder comes from a plant infused with caffeine and herbs. The powder usually is sold for about $20-30, for 16 oz while a matcha making kit, consisting of a ceramic bowl, a bamboo whisk, a sifter and holder is sold for about $15-20.
The drink has garnered millions of views on social media platforms with patrons of the tea creating a wide variety of different recipes such as matcha cheesecake, matcha souffle and even matcha beef wellington. One viral trend I’ve seen on my page has been people mixing the concentrate with vanilla flavored ice cream and milkshakes from In-N-Out, Chick-fil-a and even Costco Wholesale.
As the popularity of matcha continues to rise, people decide to try and capitalize on the wave and make cheap knock offs as an alternative to the authentic powder. Someone has created a product called “Poda” which is essentially matcha in a tube and has garnered a lot of backlash for the inauthentic ways of making the beverage. The owner of the company got backlash online for saying how it’s better than the authentic way of making matcha
Cheap renditions of the drink have also been seen recently. Some cafés would serve 6 dollar matcha drinks that just taste cheap, making it hard to put value on the drink. The flavor is often paired with toppings such as boba, jelly and other popular drink toppings. One popular rendition of the drink is the strawberry matcha latte which most boba shops around the area offer which I personally order at places such as Summerfield Tea Bar and Sunright Tea Studio.
Genuine matcha is hard to come across and it doesn’t help that people have the accessibility to sub-par matcha. I would highly recommend, instead, try and make it on your own so you can adjust it to your own liking.
