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Journalism of Courage
Twenty-eight-year-old Nida Warsi is not a fan of coffee; she finds it bitter. For months, a friend had urged her to try matcha but she always dodged. Earlier this year, on a trip to the US, she found herself outside Cha Cha Matcha in New York. On a whim, she ordered an iced matcha with oat milk. What happened next surprised her — on that hot afternoon, she discovered a new love for the green concoction that divides the internet: half swear by it, the other half think it tastes like “grass.”
During her four-month stay, Warsi explored several cafes, sampling matcha wherever she went. “From the best ones to the worst, I have tasted them all,” says Mumbai-based Warsi, who even carried home a 30 gm pouch of matcha powder by Chiran Tea (priced at Rs 700) and a whisk. “I don’t have it daily, but every few days I whisk some with oat milk,” she says.
Warsi is part of a growing number of Indians discovering Japan’s revered drink, which comes from the same plant as green tea, Camellia sinensis, but what sets it apart is its cultivation and processing. About three weeks before harvest, tea bushes are shaded to slow photosynthesis. This boosts chlorophyll and amino acid levels, especially L-theanine, which gives matcha its vivid green colour and signature umami taste. After harvest, the tender leaves are steamed to prevent oxidation, de-stemmed and stone-ground into a fine powder. Because you consume the whole leaf, matcha delivers a concentrated dose of antioxidants, amino acids and caffeine. In Japan, matcha is more than a beverage; it is central to the tea ceremony (chanoyu) and is said to be consumed by Zen monks to maintain clarity and focus during meditation.
That meditative process resonates with Indians seeking mindful rituals. In Bengaluru, 32-year-old multimedia news producer Natasha Mendon has swapped her morning coffee for a hot matcha latte. “It has become a nice morning ritual,” she says, describing her routine of whisking the powder in hot water (60-70 degree Celsius, not any hotter, warn experts), before adding milk. On experimental days, she makes a cold latte with blueberry syrup.
The customisation possibilities are endless, says Natasha Hemani, 26, who first discovered matcha in 2019 while studying in New York. “I instantly loved the earthiness,” says Hemani, who invested in a kit after realising daily café matchas were too expensive.
In April, she co-launched Blondie with Ranjit Bindra of Bastian Hospitality. The Khar West café features a dedicated matcha programme using ceremonial-grade matcha from Kagoshima, Japan. “Our menu has 12 drinks that keep evolving,” she says. The runaway hit is Mango Matcha, an iced matcha with mango compote and oat milk. “We’ve sold over 60,000 in three months.” Another bestseller is S’mores Dreaming, where hot matcha pairs with white chocolate ganache and torched meringue. “We’ve sold 23,000 of those,” she adds.
Barely two kilometres away, on Chapel Road in Bandra West, is arguably Mumbai’s first dedicated cafe to this green tea powder — Tokyo Matcha Bar & Cafe. Co-founded by 28-year-old Meher Kohli and chef Rahul Ramnani in September 2024, it offers over 25 matcha drinks and desserts. Their experiments began in 2022 at Ritual Café, where three matcha drinks quickly became customer favourites. Encouraged, they launched a delivery-only Tokyo Matcha Bar in 2023, clocking 40 daily orders despite no storefront. The next step: a physical café serving everything from matcha lemonade to desserts like matcha tres leches, matcha soft serve and “matchamisu”, their take on tiramisu with matcha sponge and mascarpone cream with dusted matcha on top.
In the last few months, matcha has gone viral on social media, and its popularity is not restricted to Mumbai or Bengaluru. There are cafes serving one or two matcha options, if not more in Agra, Lucknow, Ooty and Chennai. Cafe-workspace-bar Social, for instance, recently revamped its menu for Gen Z and added three matcha drinks: coconut water matcha latte, classic iced latte and white chocolate vanilla latte.
Industry data backs this surge. According to Grand View Research, India’s matcha tea market generated USD 104 million in 2024 and is projected to reach US$ 167.8 million by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 8.6 per cent.
Suppliers have seen the change too. Rinchen Angchuk, co-founder of Japanese restaurant Mirai, has imported matcha since 2007 but the growth, he says, has significantly spiked in recent times. Nothing, however, comes close to the surge 2025 has witnessed. “This year, demand is up 40 per cent,” he says, noting a shift toward higher quality. “Earlier people settled for C-grade. Now everyone wants at least B or A.”
But grading is murky when it comes to matcha, adds Kohli. “Globally, matcha is just ceremonial or culinary grade. In India, you see all sorts of labels — imperial, AA, AAA, premium. Unlike coffee, which is scored by associations, there’s no authority for matcha. Technically, you could sell beetroot powder as ‘red matcha’.”
Global supply is strained too. Japan is facing a shortage, as widely reported a few months ago. “Japan is unable to meet the global demand that it is currently witnessing for matcha, driving prices up 30 per cent in a year and opening doors for Chinese and Taiwanese producers. But their matcha isn’t as good,” Angchuk insists. In Assam’s Tinsukia district, 82-year-old Chota Tingrai Tea Estate is also said to be cultivating its own matcha.
To ensure consistency, some cafés import directly from Japanese farms. Hemani sources from Shizuoka, requiring 20 kg a month for Blondie, which plans to expand to Juhu soon and retail its own matcha. Kohli, who sources ceremonial grade matcha from Uji, also visited the farm in March this year to secure the supply and understand the process better herself.
The absence of strong Indian brands has created an opening. Siddharth Shah of Essenzaa Nutrition and actor Sanya Malhotra recently launched Bree Matcha, offering both everyday and ceremonial grades.
“It’s labour-intensive,” explains Kohli, adding that farmers cover plants with black sheets to protect flavour and nutrients. “Shade-grown matcha develops greater umami and sweetness, while leaves exposed to full sunlight tend to have a more bitter aftertaste,” she says, adding that the storage also requires opaque containers to prevent degradation. “That’s why good matcha is expensive.”
Former principal dietician at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi, Mukta Vasishta doesn’t prescribe matcha to her clients but acknowledges its benefits: “It has more antioxidants, supports cognitive development and helps flush out toxins.” She advises limiting intake to one or two cups a day and always with water, not milk.
Wellness influencers have further fuelled demand, touting benefits for skin, energy and focus. Consumers like Mendon find it a gentler alternative to coffee. Her current favourite brand is Heapwell’s Imperial AAA ceremonial matcha, priced at Rs 1,500 for 30 gm.
For Malhotra, the appeal is personal. “Coffee made me jittery but I didn’t want to lose the ritual of a warm morning drink. With matcha, the energy was calmer, steadier, more therapeutic. People are craving that balance, the caffeine kick without the crash.”
