Matcha may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s brewing up a cultural obsession

I was handed a takeaway cup, which tasted equal parts bitter and sweet.

Outside, a cat had made its way into the tiny quarters where more customers were waiting for their turn. She found her place on the lap of a woman in her late 20s. I asked her if she was here to try matcha.

“Of course, isn’t this place most famous for matcha?”

“Have you had it before?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t like it there. I have heard it’s authentic here,” the woman replied.

A mango-matcha latte at a cafe in Mumbai. (Photo by Sonal Gupta)

A growing cohort of young Indians has taken on the cafés in search of “authentic” matcha after a wellness boom popularised it in the West. The powdered, whisked Japanese tea, rebranded as the holy grail for fitness influencers and wellness girlies, has stirred a full-blown lifestyle trend. Less jittery than coffee, prettier than a protein shake, and brimming with antioxidants, matcha quickly became the go-to antidote to caffeine culture.

The matcha mania

Matcha is no ordinary beverage. It’s become a sort of cultural capital. Being a coffee connoisseur no longer fetches the brownie points a knowledge of matcha would. Do you know its different flavour profiles? Can you distinguish the shades of green? Do you know where to source the most authentic matcha from?

It has found its way into lattes, coolers, and even desserts like cakes and cookies, with its original earthy taste masked with sugar and ingredients like caramel, mango, strawberry and more. Several influencers have included the green drink in their morning ‘GRWM (get ready with me)’ reels or as their choice of beverage for a six-part ‘story time’. Instagram accounts, dedicated to making matcha at home and experimenting with different recipes, have cropped up.

However, it also seems to be the most divisive beverage on the Internet.

“I am not even sure if people like it or are just trying to look cool,” said a 31-year-old marketing specialist, Sanman Golwalkar. When Golwalkar tried matcha, his first thought was, “It’s like eating grass or the tea powder left after the tea is made”. He tried matcha chocolates during a trip to Japan, which he liked better than the drinks served at cafés in India.

27-year-old Khushboo Singh, a PR executive, echoed his thoughts: “Earlier, it used to be limited only to specific, low-key, underrated cafés, but now franchises like Chaayos, Third Wave (Coffee) and Got Tea are getting into it only because it’s popular. I have tried and hated all.” Notably, Tim Hortons just became the latest coffee chain to add matcha to its menu.

Singh added that there is some sort of peer pressure or even “a class bias” behind matcha’s popularity. “It’s like how can you not like the new album by The Weeknd? I just don’t. Same way, how can you not like matcha? Because it’s sh*t,” she said.

Anushka Mukherjee, a 27-year-old writer-researcher from Bengaluru, begged to differ. “There’s nothing so hateable about it. And it’s not like it has to be an alternative to coffee. I still have my coffee, but it’s nice to have some matcha midday, when you want a cold beverage after lunch, especially on hot days.”

Mukherjee said when she first tried matcha a few years ago, “I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either”. She was discouraged from trying more because of the steep cost of matcha. But by last year, matcha was everywhere, and in almost every café, which meant it became a bit cheaper. “It was almost as much as coffee, and I thought I could have more of it,” she said. Starting with matcha laced with flavours like strawberry or almond, she eventually moved onto regular matcha lattes, before realising it would be easier and more cost-effective to just make matcha at home.

“It’s so easy to learn how to make it, because the algorithm pushes it relentlessly. My explore feed is so matcha-dominated. It was hard not to buy it, because it looked super easy. Everyone’s doing it. And it’s much cheaper than buying a drink all the time,” Mukherjee added.

A vanilla bean, matcha latte from the Tokyo Matcha Bar in Bandra (Photo by Sonal Gupta)

Meher Kohli, the co-founder of Tokyo Matcha Bar in Mumbai’s Bandra, suggested that opinions may be divided because people new to matcha may not have found the right place or right flavour. “People going to other cafés that are maybe not making the best quality matcha, or maybe not making it in the best way possible, may have this notion that matcha is disgusting. They say it tastes like grass. Which is why I think it requires a little bit more of an introduction,” said Kohli.

Kohli and her partner, Rahul Ramnani, veterans of the beverage industry with their café Ritual Daily Coffee at Pali Hill, launched the matcha bar in Bandra just months ago in October 2024. The thought began when they introduced a matcha latte at Ritual and saw that there was an audience for it. “We introduced it over two years ago, when barely any café had a matcha latte on its menu. We also had to educate customers about it,” Kohli added.

At Cravin by Andy, in Mumbai’s Fort area, one of the baristas opines that matcha is an acquired taste. “People, who have tasted matcha before, seem to like ours. Newcomers take some time to get used to it. But we have a lot of repeat customers,” he told me.

Karishma Shah, an integrative nutritionist and health psychologist, concurred. “The matcha tea is very different from the Indian chai, in the way that it is harvested, processed and consumed. It’s very rich in the whole earth energy, so it might taste sandy to some people. It might not work for everyone,” she said.

Matcha’s health benefits

Beyond the ‘it girl’ image, matcha has earned a loyal following in the wellness world. But what does it actually do? Shah helped clarify the facts.

She said that matcha has less caffeine per cup than a regular brewed coffee. A component called L theanine releases this caffeine in a slow and sustained manner. In comparison, coffee releases caffeine very quickly, causing an extreme adrenaline rush, which can sometimes lead to a crash, Shah elaborated. L theanine also sends calming signals to the body, whereas coffee can cause anxiety in some people.

Matcha is rich in catechins, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a potent antioxidant, which has anti-ageing properties. Coffee also has catechins but in lower concentrations. Shah added that matcha is also better for gut health because it’s gentle on the stomach, while coffee is very acidic.

But Shah asserted that it’s not a fix-all solution as the Internet makes out to be. “There is no shortcut to weight loss or glowing skin,” she said. “It may boost your metabolism a little after a meal, or help give you a little pre-workout energy. As far as skin is concerned, that is a direct reflection of your gut health and hormones, and matcha can’t directly fix them. It will help if you replace your coffee with matcha as it won’t dehydrate your body or give you crashes.”

Shah also warned that overconsumption of anything is bad. For those with caffeine sensitivity, she recommends only 1-2 cups of matcha per day. It may also be wise to check your source as a lower grade, cheaper matcha could be contaminated, she added.

Where matcha comes from

Matcha first came to Japan in the 12th century when a monk brought back seeds of the Camellia sinensis from China. Monks began drinking the tea to relieve fatigue, outlining a set of protocols for handling it. As it proliferated outside of the Zen temples, it first gave rise to a form of entertainment, tocha, where guests attempted to distinguish between teas grown in various regions of Japan.

In later centuries, tea became a way to socialise and a part of everyday life, giving rise to Chanoyu (literally translated to “hot water for tea”), a cultural practice of drinking tea with guests. The tea ceremony includes a specific set of intricately designed utensils, including a characteristic ceramic bowl. Traditionally, the powdered tea is mixed in hot water in a bowl, using a whisk. A back-and-forth movement of hands ensures a smooth consistency of the prepared concoction.

In the 21st century, this Asian staple gripped most of the world. Japan’s export of green teas grew nearly 25 per cent in 2024 from the previous year to 36.4 billion yen (that’s a whopping Rs 2,000 crore and some more), as per government data. However, with the matcha mania comes a sobering reality: several leading tea sellers have run into shortages, squeezing domestic and global supplies. Scorching temperatures last summer, which dried out tea fields, have also left farmers and the industry unable to keep up with the global demand.