How to Choose Matcha for Café Lattes: Grades, Recipes and Cost per Cup

Matcha lattes are now a staple in cafés across Thailand, but two powders that are both called “matcha” can give very different color, taste and cost. Drawing on Japanese public sources and recipes from specialist tea shops, this guide walks through which matcha a café should use, how much of it, and what it costs per cup.

What is a matcha latte?

A matcha latte is matcha dissolved in a little hot water and topped up with milk. Matcha is tea leaf ground into powder, so you drink the whole leaf — unlike brewed green tea, where you drink only the infusion.

How it differs from a green tea latte

Some drinks sold as green tea lattes do not use matcha at all. They use powdered green tea made by grinding sencha or other teas with a machine, or green tea extract, so the color and aroma differ from matcha. If your menu says “matcha,” check that the ingredient really is matcha.

Matcha vs. green tea powder

Under the Japanese tea industry’s labelling standard, matcha is “tencha ground into a fine powder with a stone mill or similar.” Tencha is tea grown under shade for about 2–3 weeks before picking, then steamed and dried without rolling. Growing the tea under shade increases its chlorophyll, which gives the deep green color.

The definition in the labelling standard

The Green Tea Labelling Standard of the Japan Tea Central Public Interest Incorporated Association (last revised 10 July 2026) defines matcha and powdered tea as different teas.

Source: Japan Tea Central Public Interest Incorporated Association, “緑茶の表示基準” (Green Tea Labelling Standard) https://www.nihon-cha.or.jp/pdf/hyoujikijyun.pdf

What is happening in the Thai market

In an interview for a JETRO report, the head of a Japanese tea importer in Thailand said that in Thailand there are inconsistent labels and tea mixed with tea from other countries, as well as products whose prices are far out of line with their quality. Even if the pack says “matcha” or “made in Japan,” ask your supplier whether they can provide documents proving the origin and ingredients.

Which grade suits lattes

Matcha is sold under grade names such as “ceremonial,” “latte” and “culinary,” but these names are not defined in Japan’s green tea labelling standard either. Choose by what is actually in the tin, not by the name.

Look at harvest, origin and milling, not the grade name

Three things mainly drive the difference between grades.

• Harvest: first flush (ichibancha), picked first each year, is rich in theanine, the source of umami. Second flush and later harvests contain less theanine and more catechins, the source of astringency.
• Origin: Uji, Yame, Shizuoka, Kagoshima and Miyazaki — each origin and cultivar gives a different aroma and color.
• Milling: particle size changes the mouthfeel, so check samples mixed with milk.

How to think about a latte grade

In a latte, what matters is that the color and flavor hold up against the milk. High grades made for drinking whisked with water are expensive, and the difference can be hard to notice once mixed with milk. Among latte matcha, choose by the differences in harvest and milling.

All Omakase Matcha is made for lattes, divided into three grades by harvest and milling.

• Premium: first flush only, ground with a stone mill
• Standard: first flush, or a first–second flush blend, ground by machine
• Basic: tea leaves from the second flush and later

See Matcha grades for the differences.

Basic matcha latte recipes

Start from a specialist tea shop’s recipe, then adjust to your cup size and milk.

Hot

The official recipe from Ippodo, a long-established tea shop in Kyoto:

• Matcha: 3g (sifted)
• Water: 100ml at 80°C
• Milk: 100ml (warmed or frothed)

The Kyoto Prefectural Tea Research Institute advises boiling the water, then letting it cool to 70–80°C before whisking matcha. For lattes, dissolve the matcha in water in the same temperature range.

Iced

Ippodo’s official iced matcha latte recipe uses the same 3g of matcha as the hot version.

• Matcha: 3g
• Water: 100ml at 80°C
• Milk: 100ml (cold), with ice

What follows is our own editorial suggestion. If you serve in larger cups such as 16oz, or the latte tastes thin as the ice melts, scale up the matcha and milk to the total volume.

What to check when you change the milk

Dairy milk, oat milk, soy milk and coconut milk can differ in sweetness, body and color. The same matcha in the same ratio can taste different, so set the amount of matcha separately for each milk on your menu.

When you compare, check these five points.

• Color: how much green remains, freshly made and after 10 minutes
• Aroma: whether you notice the matcha aroma in the first sip
• Bitterness: whether too much bitterness or astringency lingers at the end
• Texture: whether it feels powdery or gritty
• Sweetness: whether the matcha still comes through with the sweetener you use on the menu

Cost per cup and matching it to your price

The margin on a matcha latte depends heavily on how much matcha you use per cup and what you pay for it. Setting the formula first makes it easier to compare grades.

The formula for matcha cost per cup

Matcha cost per cup = price per kg ÷ 1,000 × grams used per cup

At 3g per cup, 1kg of matcha makes about 330 cups. At 4g it makes 250 cups. Add milk, sweetener, the cup and the straw to the matcha cost to get the ingredient cost per cup. How the price per kg is set is covered in what decides the price of matcha.

Choosing to match your menu price

Specialist matcha cafés in Bangkok featured by Time Out Bangkok in March 2025 sold matcha lattes at 120–185 baht a cup.

Here is how we, the editors, think about matching the grade to your price. One option for cafés with higher prices is to use a grade with more first flush and more matcha per cup to make the taste stand out. One option for cafés keeping prices down is to use a first–second flush blend or a grade from the second flush and later, and fix the amount per cup to keep costs steady.

Decide in this order:

1. Set the menu price and the ceiling for ingredient cost
2. Subtract milk, sweetener and the cup to see what is left for matcha
3. Work out how many grams of each grade that budget allows per cup
4. Make lattes at that amount with your café’s milk and taste them side by side

What to check when you buy

When you import Japanese matcha into Thailand, check both the quality documents and the import procedures.

Quality documents

Ask your supplier for:

• Origin, harvest and cultivar (for blends, the breakdown)
• Lot number (showing when it was produced)
• Pesticide residue test results and a certificate of analysis (COA)
• Best-before date and storage instructions

Importing into Thailand

According to JETRO (survey as of October 2024), importing tea into Thailand requires the following.

Thailand’s tea standard (Ministry of Public Health Notification No. 196) sets the moisture of tea leaves at 8% or less. Before you order, decide who will handle the import — your café or an import agent.

Japanese exports to Thailand, and origins

Green tea exports from Japan to Thailand grew sharply in 2025; in 2026, volumes are falling while prices rise.

Green tea exports to Thailand

According to the Japan Tea Export Promotion Council, Japan exported 907 tonnes of green tea worth ¥2.95 billion to Thailand in 2025, the 4th-largest market. From January to August 2026, volume was 358.7 tonnes, down 40.7% on the same period a year earlier, while value rose 6.8% to ¥1.83 billion. The price per kg was roughly 1.8 times higher.

Green tea exports from Japan by destination, January–August 2026 (top 8):

Source: Japan Tea Export Promotion Council, “緑茶の国別・形状別輸出実績 2026年1〜8月” https://nihon-cha.or.jp/export/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026-08_cha_export.pdf

As Japanese matcha prices rise, talk with your supplier about whether you can keep buying the same grade and how much the price could change.

Differences between origins

Omakase Matcha supplies matcha from Uji, Yame, Shizuoka, Kagoshima and Miyazaki. See Origins for what sets each apart. Some latte matcha is blended from several tenchas, so use the origin to narrow down candidates, then make the final call by tasting with your café’s milk.

Sources

• Japan Tea Central Public Interest Incorporated Association, “緑茶の表示基準” https://www.nihon-cha.or.jp/pdf/hyoujikijyun.pdf
• Ippodo Tea, “Matcha Latte Recipe” https://ippodotea.com/blogs/recipes-to-brew-japanese-tea/matcha-latte-recipe
• Compositional Diversity and Functional Interactions of Bioactive Compounds in Japanese Green Tea: Focus on Matcha, Sencha, and Gyokuro (PMC) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13515311/
• Ippodo Tea, “Iced Matcha Latte” https://ippodotea.com/blogs/recipes-to-brew-japanese-tea/iced-matcha-latte
• Kyoto Prefectural Tea Research Institute, “お茶のおいしい入れ方 抹茶” https://www.pref.kyoto.jp/chaken/irekata_maccha.html
• JETRO, “茶の輸入規制、輸入手続き（タイ）” https://www.jetro.go.jp/world/asia/th/foods/exportguide/greentea.html
• JETRO, “抹茶ブームを経て本格的な普及段階に移行するASEAN日本茶市場” (18 May 2026) https://www.jetro.go.jp/biz/areareports/2026/d7cf7db2e5a71454.html
• Japan Tea Export Promotion Council, “緑茶の国別・形状別輸出実績 2025年1〜12月” https://nihon-cha.or.jp/export/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025-12_cha_export.pdf
• Japan Tea Export Promotion Council, “緑茶の国別・形状別輸出実績 2026年1〜8月” https://nihon-cha.or.jp/export/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026-08_cha_export.pdf
• Time Out Bangkok, “Go green: discover the best matcha teas in Bangkok” (March 2025) https://www.timeout.com/bangkok/restaurants/go-green-discover-the-best-matcha-teas-in-bangkok