Stories · Drinks
What is actually in matcha
Matcha is the whole tea leaf, ground. Here is what that means for catechins, L-theanine and caffeine in your cup, without the hype.
The short answer
Matcha is green tea leaf grown in the shade, then dried and ground into a fine powder. Because you drink the leaf itself, not water it was steeped in, more of what the leaf contains ends up in the cup: catechins (a family of antioxidants), the amino acid L-theanine, and caffeine. It is a good drink. It is not a medicine.
Numbers worth knowing
- Matcha has 18.9 to 44.4 mg of caffeine per gram of powder, so a 2 g serving has roughly 40 to 90 mg.
- EGCG is the most abundant catechin in green tea.
- Shading the plants before harvest raises theanine and chlorophyll. That is where the colour and the soft, less bitter taste come from.
- Most of the calories in a matcha latte come from the milk and any sugar, not from the tea.
How matcha is made
The tea bushes are shaded for most of their growing period. With less sun, the leaves produce more chlorophyll and more theanine, which is why good matcha is vivid green and tastes round rather than sharp.
The leaves are then dried and ground. With ordinary green tea you steep the leaves and throw them away. With matcha, the leaf is the drink.
Catechins: the antioxidant part
Green tea is rich in catechins, and with matcha you take in the whole leaf rather than an infusion. The best known is EGCG. In the lab these are measurable, potent antioxidants.
What that does for long-term health in people is still being studied, and tea is not sold as a treatment for anything. When EFSA reviewed green tea catechins in 2018, it found that supplements giving 800 mg of EGCG a day or more raised liver enzymes. It judged traditional green tea infusions generally safe at usual intakes, while noting rare cases of liver injury.
Theanine and caffeine: why it feels different from coffee
Many people describe matcha as a steadier lift than coffee. Part of that is simply dose: a 2 g serving has roughly 40 to 90 mg of caffeine, while a 12 fl oz (355 ml) brewed coffee typically has 113 to 247 mg.
Matcha also carries theanine, which researchers study alongside caffeine. We treat the calm feeling as how it tastes and feels to most people, not as a promise.
How to drink it
The tea itself has almost no calories. A latte is as light or as heavy as the milk and sugar you put in it, so that is the part worth choosing.
It still counts toward your caffeine for the day. If coffee after lunch keeps you up, late matcha probably will too.
Quick questions
- Does matcha have more caffeine than coffee?
- Usually less per serving. A 2 g serving of matcha has roughly 40 to 90 mg of caffeine. A 12 fl oz (355 ml) brewed coffee typically has 113 to 247 mg, according to the US FDA.
- Is matcha high in antioxidants?
- Yes, in the sense that it is rich in catechins such as EGCG, which are antioxidants. Whether that improves health outcomes in people is still being researched.
- Is it fine to drink matcha every day?
- Most healthy adults can, as long as total caffeine stays within about 400 mg a day. EFSA's 2018 liver warning was about supplements with 800 mg of EGCG a day or more. EFSA assessed brewed tea, not powdered whole leaf, and noted rare cases of liver injury even with brewed tea.
Sources
- Kochman J, et al. Health Benefits and Chemical Composition of Matcha Green Tea: A Review. Molecules, 2021.
- EFSA. Scientific opinion on the safety of green tea catechins. EFSA Journal, 2018.
- US FDA. Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine Is Too Much?
*This article is general information and does not replace advice from your doctor. If you are pregnant, on medication or managing a condition, ask your doctor first.
