Yes, matcha contains caffeine. A standard bowl made with 2g of powder holds roughly 60 to 70mg of caffeine, which is less than a typical cup of filter coffee but clearly more than a steeped cup of green tea. The reason sits in two places: you drink the whole ground leaf instead of throwing it away, and the plants are shaded before harvest, which changes what builds up inside the leaf.
This guide puts real numbers on all of it, so you know exactly what is in your bowl. If you are completely new to the drink, our guide to what is matcha covers the basics first.
How much caffeine is in a bowl of matcha?
A traditional bowl uses 2g of matcha, about one level teaspoon, and that serving contains around 60 to 70mg of caffeine. The exact figure moves a little with the harvest and the grade, but 60 to 70mg per 2g is the honest range for good ceremonial powder.
The caffeine sits in the powder, not in the liquid around it. Adding more water or milk makes the drink bigger, but the total stays the same. What changes the number is the dose: 1g gives you roughly 30 to 35mg, while 3g pushes past 100mg. So when a café asks whether you want a double scoop in your latte, that question is about caffeine as much as taste.
Does matcha have more caffeine than coffee?
Per serving, no. A 240ml cup of filter coffee typically contains about 90mg of caffeine, so a standard 2g bowl of matcha lands roughly a third lower. A single espresso is closer to matcha territory at about 60 to 65mg per shot.
Gram for gram, matcha holds more caffeine than most drinks, but the serving is small. Nobody whisks 10g of powder into one bowl, so the numbers per drink are what count in practice.
| Drink | Serving | Typical caffeine |
|---|---|---|
| Matcha | 2g in a bowl or latte | 60 to 70mg |
| Filter coffee | 240ml cup | About 90mg |
| Espresso | Single 30ml shot | 60 to 65mg |
| Steeped green tea | 240ml cup | 30 to 50mg |
| Black tea | 240ml cup | 40 to 50mg |
Why does matcha have more caffeine than steeped green tea?
Matcha and regular green tea come from the same plant, so the gap needs explaining. It comes down to two production choices.
First, you consume the whole leaf. When you steep green tea, only part of the caffeine moves from the leaf into the water, and the rest goes in the bin with the used leaves. With matcha, the leaf is stone-ground into a fine powder and everything in it ends up in your bowl.
Second, the shading. For 30 days or more before harvest, matcha fields are covered so most of the sunlight is blocked. Shaded leaves build up more chlorophyll, more amino acids and also more caffeine than leaves grown in full sun. That same shading gives good matcha its bright jade colour, while unshaded or older powder looks dull and olive. You can read how the estate we work with in Uji handles the shading on our matcha page.
What about L-theanine?
Caffeine is not the only compound worth knowing. Matcha also contains L-theanine, an amino acid that occurs naturally in tea leaves. Shading raises the L-theanine level in the leaf, and a 2g serving of well-shaded matcha typically carries somewhere between 20 and 45mg.
L-theanine is also a big part of how matcha tastes. It is one of the compounds behind the soft, savoury depth that tea people call umami, which is why shaded teas taste rounder and less bitter than sun-grown ones.
Does the grade change the caffeine content?
A little. Ceremonial matcha is made from the youngest first-harvest leaves, and young leaves naturally hold more caffeine than the older, tougher leaves picked later in the year. Culinary matcha, which uses those later harvests, usually sits somewhat lower. The difference is real but modest, and grade matters far more for taste than for caffeine. Our comparison of ceremonial vs culinary matcha explains what the grades actually mean.
Preparation, on the other hand, barely matters. Whether you whisk your 2g into 75ml of water at 80 degrees the traditional way, as shown in our ritual guide, or shake it into a cold drink, the caffeine content is set by the powder you put in.
FAQ
Is a matcha latte high in caffeine?
A matcha latte contains exactly as much caffeine as the powder that went into it. Made with the standard 2g, that is 60 to 70mg, and the milk adds nothing. Cafés often use bigger scoops of 3 to 4g, which pushes a latte past 100mg. If you make it yourself with our matcha latte guide, you control the dose.
How much caffeine is in a teaspoon of matcha?
A level teaspoon holds about 2g of powder, so roughly 60 to 70mg of caffeine. A heaped teaspoon is closer to 4g and doubles that.
Does iced matcha have less caffeine than hot matcha?
No. The caffeine is in the powder, so the temperature of the drink changes nothing about the total. A 2g iced matcha latte carries the same 60 to 70mg as a hot bowl.
Is there caffeine-free matcha?
Not really. Caffeine occurs naturally in the tea plant, so every true matcha contains it. Powders sold as caffeine-free are usually not made from tea leaves at all, but from other plants ground to look similar.
How many bowls of matcha fit within common daily caffeine guidance?
EFSA, the European food safety authority, has concluded that up to 400mg of caffeine per day from all sources raises no safety concerns for healthy adults. At 60 to 70mg per bowl that leaves room for several bowls, though your coffee, tea and cola count towards the same total.
Now that you know the numbers, taste where they come from. Our 30g ceremonial matcha is first harvest from a single estate in Uji, shade-grown and stone-ground, and at 2g per bowl the pouch holds about fifteen servings.
