Overconsumption, Shortage, and Alternatives
Today, matcha is a staple drink at any coffee place. But with it causing so much demand places today sell you a cup at $7-$10 full of cheap powder, artificial sweeteners, and cold foam. What happened?
I had first started drinking matcha 5 years ago, hearing it could help me with my stomach issues. It wasn’t until recently I came to the conclusion that what people are selling you today does not taste the same as it did before. There was once an earthier taste, way more grassy, if you will. 🤭
I want to say it was 3 years ago where I went in one day to get a matcha when the barista told me they were out of powder for the week. Later I went to another place and again I’m told they were out of powder. The times where it felt only me and Kourtney Kardashian drank it were over.
Unfortunately, throughout that time, it became a recurring situation where there was never enough supply to last coffee places the whole week. But it wasn’t until January of last year when I saw a video for the first time that there was a matcha shortage but I knew it had started way before that.
It feels like every week there’s a new coffee shop that opens and there is not enough matcha to go around.
I spoke with Veronica Sara – a matcha lover who has taken classes in Uji Japan learning about matcha and its origin. She physically got to grind matcha leaves by hand to create the powder. She shares,
“You only get 10g of matcha powder in 30 minutes of stone milling”
Getting back to what was said earlier, a lot of places will buy cheap powders and mask the drink with different flavored fruit syrups, foams, etc. And you pay upwards of $10 for a cheaply made drink.
I can name a couple of places here in the 805 that are or aren’t worth your money, but we can save that for a future segment.
What I can assure you of today though is that if you are looking for its true rich texture, flavor, and quality you are best off buying a great quality powder that originates from Uji, Nishio or Yame and making it yourself.
It’s not the easiest thing to get into, but I guarantee you once you get the hang of it, there’s really no going back. Also while a great quality powder can be pricey it’s worth the price compared to spending on a mid coffee shop.
There’s this saying I see in videos time and time again where they say depending on the color of the drink you’ll know if it’s actually good or not. The greener the better.
But it also gets complicated and confusing because it also gets to a point people overdo the powder, and it’s not only adding to the shortage, but also people are overconsuming the number of grams they should be having for a daily intake. This, in some cases, causes people to end up in the ER because of a lack of poor knowledge.
I had the privilege of watching and observing all this play out in real time. However, it saddens me that matcha became another victim to overconsumption culture. There’s not, and most likely never will be, enough to get around to truly appreciate. The plot was lost and its beautiful culture was forgotten.
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