If you have bought matcha recently, you have noticed the price. We want to explain why, because the reason is real, it is not going away quickly, and we would rather you hear it from us than wonder.
What happened
Matcha begins as tencha, the shaded leaf that is later stone ground into powder. Wholesale tencha is currently running roughly thirty to sixty percent above where it sat before 2025. At the spring 2026 auctions in Kyoto, tencha cleared between 8,235 and 13,972 yen per kilogram. In Kagoshima it reached about 19,000 yen.
Ippodo, one of the oldest and most respected tea houses in Japan, told its customers in March that producer prices had reached roughly two and a half times the previous year for first harvest leaf, and about two and a half times for matcha specifically. They also discontinued several products outright because the leaf simply was not available.
When a house that has operated since 1717 begins rationing, the shortage is not speculation.
Why it happened
Demand outran supply. Japanese green tea exports rose forty two percent by volume in the last fiscal year, and export value roughly doubled. Powdered green tea accounts for the large majority of that. The world discovered matcha faster than Japan could plant it.
The weather did not cooperate. Record heat in 2024 damaged tencha crops in Kyoto and Aichi, two of the most important growing regions.
There are fewer farmers. Japan lost roughly fifty three thousand tea farmers between 2000 and 2020. The work is demanding, the land is often steep, and younger generations have moved to cities.
Tea plants are slow. A newly planted tea bush needs four to five years before it yields leaf worth harvesting. Even with aggressive replanting happening right now, meaningful relief is unlikely before the end of this decade.
What it means for what you buy
Scarcity attracts shortcuts. As real Uji matcha becomes harder to secure, more powder is appearing on shelves labeled in ways that suggest an origin it does not have. Blending gets more aggressive. Later harvests get sold as first flush. Quality slips as producers chase volume.
This is why we have not changed our sourcing. Our Ceremonial Matcha still comes from the same small family farm in Uji. It is still single origin, still first flush, still ground fresh and shipped to us monthly. We would rather carry less and tell you the truth about it than carry more and hope you do not ask.
How to spend well right now
Match the grade to the use. Save ceremonial for tea you drink with water, where you can actually taste what you are paying for. Use our Daily Matcha for lattes, smoothies, and baking. It comes from the same farm and the same care, priced for everyday drinking.
Buy in larger sizes if you drink it often. Our 500 gram and 1 kilogram tins cost meaningfully less per serving, and buying ahead protects you from the next increase.
Store it properly. When matcha costs this much, letting it go stale in a cupboard is an expensive mistake. Airtight, cold, and away from light.
Consider hojicha. Our Hojicha is a roasted Japanese green tea with a smooth, toasty character and far less caffeine. It is a genuine pleasure in its own right and it is not caught in the same squeeze.
Come talk to us about it at Tea Bar, 1055 Northwest Northrup. We will show you what we are pouring and why.