At a minimalist matcha bar in Los Angeles, United States, powdered Japanese tea is prepared with precision, despite a global shortage driven by the bright green drink’s social media stardom.Of the 25 types of matcha on the menu at Kettl Tea, which opened on Hollywood Boulevard this year, all but four were out of stock, according to the shop’s founder, Zach Mangan.
“One of the things we struggle with is telling customers that, unfortunately, we don’t have” what they want, he said.
With its deep grassy aroma, intense colour and pick-me-up effects, the popularity of matcha “has grown just exponentially over the last decade, but much more so in the last two to three years”, the 40-year-old explained.
It is now “a cultural touchpoint in the Western world” – found everywhere from ice-cream flavour boards to Starbucks.
This has caused matcha’s market to nearly double over a year, Mangan said.
“No matter what we try, there’s just not more to buy.”
A woman enjoys a cup of matcha with her book at Kettl Tea in the Los Feliz neighbourhood of Los Angeles, California [Frederic J. Brown/AFP]
In the Japanese city of Sayama, northwest of Tokyo, Masahiro Okutomi – the 15th generation to run his family’s tea production business – is overwhelmed by demand.
“I had to put on our website that we are not accepting any more matcha orders,” he said.
Producing the powder is an intensive process: the leaves, called “tencha”, are …
