Matcha Syrup Recipe for Cafés: 8 Official Recipes Compared, Storage, Amount per Drink and Cost

With matcha syrup, you can make lattes, sodas and shaved ice without whisking matcha for every order. But two products that are both called “matcha syrup” can contain very different amounts of matcha. This guide compares the recipes published by tea companies, food companies and Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, then covers how to dissolve the matcha, storage, the amount per drink, how to read commercial labels, and cost.

What is matcha syrup?

Matcha syrup is a sweet syrup made by dissolving matcha in sugar and water (hot water). It is poured over shaved ice or ice cream, or mixed with milk or soda water to make drinks.

Homemade and commercial

There is homemade syrup, made in the shop from matcha and sugar, and commercial syrup made by syrup companies. Some commercial products contain flavorings, coloring ingredients or acidity regulators as well as matcha.

“Matcha syrup” has two meanings in English

In English, “matcha syrup” can also mean a syrup of just sugar and water (simple syrup) used to sweeten a matcha latte. This guide is about syrup with matcha dissolved in it. For how to decide the amount of sweetener, see “How to add sweetener (syrup)” in our iced matcha latte recipe.

Official recipes compared

Across 8 published recipes, matcha makes up between about 2% and about 9% of the syrup, a difference of more than four times. The ratio of sugar to water also ranges from 0.25:1 to 1.2:1.

The 8 recipes

Source	Matcha	Sugar	Water	Sugar : water	Matcha share
Morihan (Kyoto tea company), standard, 2 servings	3–4g	60g	50ml boiling water	1.2:1	about 2.6–3.5%
Morihan, authentic, 2 servings	5g	30g	60ml boiling water	0.5:1	about 5.3%
MAIKO Cha Boutique (Uji tea café)	8g	200g	200cc hot water	1:1	about 2.0%
Isodaen (tea company), recipe replacing 50g of sweetened green tea powder	4g	50g	50g hot water	1:1	about 3.8%
cotta (online confectionery supplier), recipe site, about 2 cups	10g	50g white sugar	70ml water	about 0.7:1	about 7.7%
Kurasu (Kyoto coffee and tea shop)	2.5g	5g	20g hot water	0.25:1	about 9.1%
Yagomatcha (Swiss matcha seller)	2g	125ml	125ml + 2 tsp lukewarm water	1:1 by volume	not calculated (sugar given by volume)
MAFF magazine aff (April 2017), matcha shaved ice	a suitable amount, dissolved strong in hot water	beet sugar 75g, granulated sugar 85g, wasanbon sugar 15g, a little brown sugar	200ml water	about 0.9:1	matcha and syrup poured separately

The matcha share is the weight of matcha divided by the total of matcha, sugar and water (taking 1ml as 1g), calculated by our editors. Water lost in heating is not taken into account.

Morihan’s method: bring the water to a boil, add the sugar and heat for about 40 seconds over medium heat, let the syrup cool slightly, then add it little by little to the sifted matcha. Morihan notes that matcha lumps more easily when there is too little water.

Source: Morihan official blog, “夏は抹茶のかき氷！抹茶シロップの作り方教えます！” (Matcha shaved ice for summer: how to make matcha syrup, in Japanese) https://www.tea-and-coffee.shop/blog/2023/08/25/kakigori/

Syrups for shaved ice are sweeter, the latte syrup has more matcha

The 5 recipes from Morihan, MAIKO Cha Boutique, Isodaen and cotta are all for pouring over shaved ice. Their sugar is 0.5 to 1.2 times the water, and matcha is about 2–8%. Kurasu’s recipe, by contrast, is for a matcha latte made with milk: sugar is only a quarter of the water and matcha is about 9%, a strong mix. Morihan also recommends its standard recipe to people who like café-chain lattes, and the authentic recipe with less sugar to people who like lattes at Japanese tea cafés.

If you make a latte with a sweet shaved-ice syrup, it becomes too sweet before there is enough matcha. For example, to get 2.5g of matcha from Morihan’s standard syrup (calculated with 3.5g matcha), you need about 81g of syrup, which contains about 43g of sugar. With Kurasu’s syrup, 27.5g gives 2.5g of matcha and 5g of sugar. This calculation is our editors’ own.

Our editors recommend making two syrups for two uses: one with plenty of matcha for lattes, like Kurasu’s, and one with roughly equal sugar and water for shaved ice. This makes it easier to keep the amount of matcha per drink consistent.

How to make it without lumps

Mix the matcha well with the sugar first, or sift it, work it into a paste with a little liquid, then add the rest of the liquid little by little. The official recipes fall into two methods.

Mix the sugar and matcha first

MAIKO Cha Boutique mixes the sugar and matcha well in a bowl, then adds them to boiled water to dissolve. It says that mixing with the sugar first stops lumps forming when the matcha goes into the hot water. Isodaen recommends the same method.

Make the sugar water first, then add it to the matcha little by little

Morihan adds the sugar to boiling water, heats it for about 40 seconds over medium heat, and adds the slightly cooled sugar water (white syrup) little by little to matcha sifted through a tea strainer. Because its authentic recipe uses more matcha and lumps easily, it recommends using a chasen (bamboo whisk) or a whisk.

Don’t boil it too long

MAIKO Cha Boutique says that boiling hard makes the matcha’s color worse, so heat it only briefly if you want to keep a good color. Morihan and cotta heat only the sugar water and add the matcha after it has cooled. When making it in the shop, avoid long cooking after the matcha goes in. For why lumps form and how to sift and make a paste, see “How to prevent lumps” in how to make matcha.

Storage that keeps the color and aroma

We did not find any public guideline on how many days homemade matcha syrup keeps. The information available is guidance from established tea shops and sellers, and labels from commercial makers.

Storage guides for homemade and commercial syrup

Source	Type	Storage guide
Yagomatcha	Homemade recipe	About 2 weeks in the fridge. To keep the color, wrap it completely in aluminum foil if possible and refrigerate
MAIKO Cha Boutique	Homemade recipe	Contains no preservatives, so use it up soon
Monin (French syrup maker), matcha concentrate	Commercial	No refrigeration needed. Store at room temperature away from heat and direct sunlight
The Syrup Project (syrup company), matcha syrup	Commercial	Once opened, 90–180 days capped in a cool, dry place below 25°C. 30–60 days with a pump fitted

The number of days for commercial products depends on each product’s recipe and manufacturing method, and does not apply directly to homemade syrup.

Syrup with less sugar spoils more easily

The Hiroshima Prefecture Food Technology Research Center explains that when a food contains a lot of sugar or salt, much of its water is used to dissolve them, leaving less water that microorganisms can use. As a guide, ordinary bacteria grow at a water activity (a value showing how much water microorganisms can use) of 0.90 or above, yeasts at 0.88 or above, and molds at 0.80 or above. A latte syrup with less sugar leaves more water that microorganisms can use than a sweet shaved-ice syrup. This is a reason to refrigerate it and make it in small batches.

For official guidelines on cold-holding temperatures and how long prepared drinks can be kept, see “Can you make it ahead?” in our iced matcha latte recipe.

Light and heat dull the green

The green of matcha comes from chlorophyll. A presentation at the 2024 annual meeting of the Japanese Society for Food Science and Technology found that a green tea solution made with matcha changed color under light, and inferred that the cause was the breakdown of chlorophyll and a reaction between chlorophyll and catechins (the astringent compounds in tea). In a 2022 study that heated green tea powder with microwaves, the stronger the heating, the more green was lost, mainly because chlorophyll lost its magnesium or broke down.

Yamamasa Koyamaen, an established tea company in Kyoto, also explains that matcha’s green fades with light, and that the same is true of foods made with matcha. Keep it in a container that blocks light, and don’t heat it for long after the matcha goes in. For storing matcha powder, see matcha shelf life.

Storage in the shop (our editors’ view)

Refrigerate it in a bottle that blocks light and write the date and time it was made. To decide how many days it can be kept, mix freshly made syrup and syrup kept for a few days with the same milk, and compare color, aroma and taste side by side in the shop.

How to use it and how much per drink

In the official recipes, the syrup for one latte is 27.5g at Kurasu and 22.5–30mL at Monin. Monin’s lemonade uses 15mL. For soda and shaved ice, set the amount to suit the size of the glass or bowl.

Amount per drink

Use	Source	Amount of syrup	Combined with
Hot latte	Kurasu	27.5g (2.5g matcha)	150g warmed milk
Iced latte	Kurasu	27.5g (2.5g matcha)	about 100g ice, 155g cold milk
Hot latte (480mL mug)	Monin “Coconut Hot Matcha Tea”	30mL concentrate	2 pumps of coconut concentrated flavor, steamed coconut milk
Latte with espresso (360mL)	Monin “Caramel Apple Dirty Matcha”	22.5mL concentrate	15mL caramel apple syrup, 120mL steamed milk, espresso
Matcha lemonade (480mL glass with ice)	Monin “Big Apple Matcha Lemonade”	15mL concentrate	15mL apple syrup, 210mL lemonade
Shaved ice	Morihan, standard	about 113g for 2 servings (about 57g per serving, our editors’ calculation)	shaved ice

Lattes

The official matcha latte recipe from Ippodo, an established Kyoto tea company, uses 3g of matcha. Kurasu’s 27.5g of syrup contains 2.5g of matcha, so to match that strength, use a little more syrup or a higher share of matcha. For recipes using matcha powder, see how to choose matcha for café lattes. Because the matcha is already dissolved, the syrup mixes straight into cold milk, saving the work of dissolving matcha for iced drinks.

Soda and lemonade

For Monin’s lemonade, the ingredients are poured into a glass with ice, transferred to another container to mix, and poured back. For layered drinks with strawberry, see our strawberry matcha latte.

Shaved ice and desserts

Morihan’s standard recipe works out at about 57g of syrup per serving, containing about 1.5–2g of matcha (our editors’ calculation). The recipe in the Ministry of Agriculture’s magazine makes a sugar syrup and matcha dissolved strong in hot water separately, then pours them over shaved ice one after the other. Because the matcha is not mixed into the sugar water, sweetness and matcha strength can be adjusted separately.

For leftover syrup, Morihan suggests lattes and ice cream, and MAIKO Cha Boutique suggests mixing it with iced water or milk to make a sweet green tea drink.

How to read the ingredient list on commercial matcha syrup

In Japan, Singapore and the US, ingredients are listed in descending order of weight. Where matcha appears in the list, and what is used for color and flavor, shows how products differ.

Ingredients are listed from most to least

Japan’s Food Labeling Standards require ingredients to be listed in descending order of their share of the ingredients by weight. The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) labelling guide also says that, unless the quantity or proportion of each ingredient is stated, ingredients and additives are listed in descending order of their weight at the time of manufacture. US federal regulations also require ingredients to be listed by their common name in descending order of weight.

For example, the ingredients of Monin’s matcha concentrate are, in order: water, pure cane sugar, natural flavors, organic matcha powder, spirulina (color), green tea extract, citric acid, turmeric (color) and natural caffeine. Matcha comes after water, sugar and flavors. The Syrup Project’s matcha syrup lists organic cane sugar, filtered water, organic matcha powder, organic spirulina and citric acid, in that order. Neither states what percentage of matcha it contains.

Under Japanese rules, a product that just says “matcha” does not need to state the percentage of matcha. The Consumer Affairs Agency’s Q&A on the Food Labeling Standards gives matcha as an example of a general name.

On the other hand, emphasizing an origin or brand, such as “made with Uji tea,” counts as a distinctive ingredient. The Consumer Affairs Agency explains that consumers reading such a claim assume 100% is used, so unless it is 100%, the percentage must be stated alongside, as in “made with 10% domestic ××.” The percentage is given either as a share of the whole product or as a share of the same type of ingredient (in this case, matcha).

Category of distinctive ingredient	Examples given by the Consumer Affairs Agency
Specific place of origin	domestic soybean silken tofu, Turkish hazelnuts, Tokachi azuki beans
Organic produce, livestock and processed foods	organic wheat flour, organic beef
Non-GMO, etc.	(labelled under the GMO rules)
Specific place of manufacture	butter made in Hokkaido
Produce grown by special methods	carrots grown without pesticides during cultivation
Variety names, etc.	Tochiotome strawberries, Koshihikari rice
Brand, label or product names	made with Uji tea, Matsusaka beef, Echizen crab

The Q&A defines a distinctive ingredient as one where a “made with ○○” claim would mislead consumers into thinking the product is better than it is if ○○ is less than 100% of that type of ingredient.

Source: Consumer Affairs Agency, “食品表示基準Q&A” (Q&A on the Food Labeling Standards), Chapter 2 Processed foods, Q 202 (in Japanese) https://www.caa.go.jp/policies/policy/food_labeling/food_labeling_act/assets/food_labeling_cms201_261001_12.pdf

Check how color and flavor are added

Under Japan’s Food Labeling Standards, a coloring is labelled with its purpose and substance name together, as in “coloring (gardenia).” If the name contains the character for “color” (as in gardenia color), the word “coloring” can be omitted. In Singapore, additives can be declared by name, INS number (the international numbering system for additives), E number and so on, and stating their purpose is not required. Whether an ingredient adds color is judged from the substance name.

When comparing commercial products, look at where matcha appears, the coloring ingredients (such as spirulina, turmeric or gardenia), whether green tea extract or flavorings are added, and the sugar content. Monin’s concentrate contains 12g of total sugars per 30mL. For Singapore’s nutrition label for sweetened drinks (Nutri-Grade), see our strawberry matcha latte.

Cost per drink

As with a matcha latte, the matcha cost per drink is calculated as “price per kg ÷ 1,000 × grams used per drink.” For syrup, divide the ingredient cost of one batch by the amount of syrup it makes to get the cost per gram.

Homemade

Say you make 10 times Kurasu’s recipe, with 25g matcha, 50g sugar and 200g hot water. If the batch makes 275g of syrup, the 27.5g for one latte contains 2.5g of matcha and 5g of sugar. The cost per gram of syrup is the total cost of the matcha and sugar in the batch ÷ grams of syrup made.

Turning matcha into syrup does not change the matcha cost; the amount of matcha per drink sets the cost. A latte made with 27.5g of syrup has 2.5g of matcha, 0.5g less than a latte made with 3g of matcha powder. How the price per kg is set is covered in what decides the price of matcha.

Heating reduces the water, so always weigh the finished syrup. Include any syrup thrown away unused in the cost, then add milk, ice, cups and so on to get the ingredient cost per drink.

Commercial

For commercial syrup, calculate bottle price ÷ volume × amount used per drink. For example, on Monin’s US official online store, a 750mL bottle of matcha concentrate costs $16.50 (checked 14 October 2026), about $0.022 per mL. Using 30mL in a latte costs about $0.66, and 15mL in a lemonade about $0.33. Prices vary by country and retailer, so recalculate with your shop’s purchase price.

Homemade or commercial?

Homemade suits shops that want to decide the amount and origin of the matcha themselves; commercial syrup suits shops that want less prep and storage work. Whichever you choose, recording the amount of matcha and the cost per drink lets you compare.

Shops that suit homemade

Shops that feature the strength or origin of the matcha in their lattes on the menu suit homemade syrup. The ingredients can be just matcha, sugar and water, but it needs refrigerated storage and frequent prep.

For grades of matcha used in lattes, see matcha grades, and for differences between regions, see matcha origins. If you mix it with oat milk, see also how to choose matcha for oat milk lattes.

Shops that suit commercial syrup

Shops with few matcha drinks, or that use a little at a time in lemonades, suit commercial syrup that can be stored at room temperature. Check where matcha appears on the label and what the coloring ingredients are, then mix it with your own milk and compare it with homemade before deciding.

Sources

Morihan official blog, “夏は抹茶のかき氷！抹茶シロップの作り方教えます！” (Matcha shaved ice for summer: how to make matcha syrup, 25 August 2023, in Japanese) https://www.tea-and-coffee.shop/blog/2023/08/25/kakigori/
MAIKO Cha Boutique, “抹茶のカキ氷シロップの作り方教えちゃいます！” (How to make matcha syrup for shaved ice, 6 August 2016, in Japanese) https://maiko.ne.jp/boutique/?p=583
Isodaen, “抹茶かき氷シロップの作り方” (How to make matcha shaved ice syrup, 1 August 2024, in Japanese) https://www.isodaen.co.jp/2024/08/01/%e6%8a%b9%e8%8c%b6%e3%81%8b%e3%81%8d%e6%b0%b7%e3%82%b7%e3%83%ad%e3%83%83%e3%83%97%e3%81%ae%e4%bd%9c%e3%82%8a%e6%96%b9/
cotta, “抹茶シロップ（かき氷用）” (Matcha syrup for shaved ice, in Japanese) https://www.cotta.jp/recipe/recipe.php?recipeid=00008454
Kurasu, “Matcha Recipe” (6 March 2023) https://kurasu.kyoto/blogs/recipe/matcha-recipe
Yagomatcha, “Matcha Sirup” https://yagomatcha.ch/en/blogs/rezepte/matcha-sirup
MAFF, aff April 2017, “抹茶を使ったおいしいレシピ” (Tasty recipes using matcha, in Japanese) https://www.maff.go.jp/j/pr/aff/1704/spe2_02.html
Monin US, “Matcha Green Tea Concentrate” https://monin.us/products/matcha-green-tea-concentrate
Monin US, “About” https://monin.us/pages/about
Monin US, “Coconut Hot Matcha Tea” https://monin.us/products/coconut-hot-matcha-tea
Monin US, “Caramel Apple Dirty Matcha” https://monin.us/products/caramel-apple-dirty-matcha
Monin US, “Big Apple Matcha Lemonade” https://monin.us/products/big-apple-matcha-lemonade
The Syrup Project, “Organic Matcha Syrup 750mL” https://thesyrupproject.com/products/750ml-handcrafted-organic-matcha-syrup
Ippodo Tea, “Matcha Latte Recipe” https://ippodotea.com/blogs/recipes-to-brew-japanese-tea/matcha-latte-recipe
Yamamasa Koyamaen, “抹茶の取扱い” (Handling matcha, in Japanese) https://www.yamamasa-koyamaen.co.jp/matcha/basic/handling.html
Hiroshima Prefecture Food Technology Research Center, “企業のためになるQ&A” (Q&A for businesses: water activity, in Japanese) https://www.pref.hiroshima.lg.jp/soshiki/26/foodfaq6-5.html
Yasuda et al., “光照射による緑茶の色と成分の変化” (Changes in the color and components of green tea under light), abstract, 71st annual meeting of the Japanese Society for Food Science and Technology (2024, in Japanese) https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/aamjsfst/71/0/71_45/_article/-char/ja
Wang et al., “The Effect of Microwave Radiation on the Green Color Loss of Green Tea Powder,” Foods (2022) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9407078/
Consumer Affairs Agency, “食品表示基準” (Food Labeling Standards, in Japanese) https://www.caa.go.jp/policies/policy/food_labeling/food_labeling_act/assets/food_labeling_cms201_261001_01.pdf
Consumer Affairs Agency, “食品表示基準Q&A” (Q&A on the Food Labeling Standards), Chapter 2 Processed foods (in Japanese) https://www.caa.go.jp/policies/policy/food_labeling/food_labeling_act/assets/food_labeling_cms201_261001_12.pdf
Consumer Affairs Agency, “食品表示基準Q&A” (Q&A on the Food Labeling Standards), Annex: food additives (in Japanese) https://www.caa.go.jp/policies/policy/food_labeling/food_labeling_act/assets/food_labeling_cms201_260401_09.pdf
Singapore Food Agency, “A Guide to Food Labelling and Advertisements” https://www.sfa.gov.sg/docs/default-source/food-information/labelling-and-packaging-information/a-guide-to-food-labelling-and-advertisements.pdf
eCFR, “21 CFR 101.4 Food; designation of ingredients” https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-101/subpart-A/section-101.4

FAQ

QWhat is the ratio of matcha, sugar and water in matcha syrup?

AIt varies widely across 8 published recipes. The standard recipe from Morihan, a Kyoto tea company, uses 3–4g matcha, 60g sugar and 50ml boiling water for two servings, so matcha is about 3% of the total. Kurasu, a Kyoto coffee and tea shop, uses 2.5g matcha, 5g sugar and 20g hot water, so matcha is about 9%. Recipes for shaved ice are sweeter, and the recipe for lattes has more matcha.

QMy matcha syrup has lumps. What should I do?

AMAIKO Cha Boutique and Isodaen say that mixing matcha well with sugar before dissolving it in hot water makes lumps less likely. Morihan recommends sifting the matcha through a tea strainer, adding the sugar water little by little after it has cooled slightly, and using a chasen (bamboo whisk) or a whisk. It also says that matcha lumps more easily when there is too little water.

QHow long does homemade matcha syrup keep?

AWe did not find any public guideline on how many days homemade matcha syrup keeps. Yagomatcha, a Swiss matcha seller, says about 2 weeks in the fridge, and MAIKO Cha Boutique says to use it up soon because it contains no preservatives. Keep it in the fridge in a container that blocks light, write the date it was made, and make small batches.

QHow much matcha syrup goes into one matcha latte?

AKurasu's official recipe combines 27.5g of syrup containing 2.5g matcha with 150g of warmed milk for a hot latte, or with about 100g ice and 155g cold milk for an iced latte. A recipe on the US official site of syrup maker Monin uses 30mL of matcha concentrate in a 480mL hot latte.

QWhat should I check on the label of commercial matcha syrup?

AIn Japan, Singapore and the US, ingredients are listed in descending order of weight. Check where matcha appears, and whether colorings (such as spirulina, turmeric or gardenia) or flavorings are added. In Japan, a product that just says “matcha” does not need to state the percentage, but if it emphasizes an origin or brand, such as “made with Uji tea,” it must state the percentage used unless it is 100%.