Atlanta’s beverage scene has gotten greener because matcha is trending in a big way, from coffee shop and dessert menus to pop-ups offering direct-to-consumer tins.
Matcha is a high-grade powder made from shade-grown green tea leaves. Rather than just the extract of a leaf, matcha contains the entire leaf. In addition to giving the powder its signature verdant hue, growing tea leaves in the shade promotes chlorophyll and accentuates umami in the flavor profile.
While traditionally matcha is whisked and combined with hot water, you’ll now find it as the top portion of layered lattes and lemonades, or mixed in pastries, cocktails, and soft serve ice cream to provide that shock of green.
Although the powdered tea has been produced for centuries, the earthy, green beverage only recently became a popular alternative to coffee and caffeinated teas. Unlike coffee and some black teas, matcha distributes caffeine more slowly and consistently. (Think of coffee’s caffeine boost as an instant-release medication and matcha as a continuous-release medication.) Even with its distinct flavor, matcha is also less acidic than coffee, making it gentle on the stomach.
Matcha in Atlanta coffee shops
Atlanta Coffee Shops website founder Eugene Buchko said he first noticed a matcha uptick in Atlanta after the COVID-19 pandemic. The matcha trend really took off in 2024, he said.
Buchko recalled encountering matcha drinks at Atlanta coffee shops in the late 2010s. Matcha mostly stuck to the sidelines. It wasn’t until recently that increased demand had local coffee and tea shops adding matcha to the lineup.
Before closing in 2025, Wave 3 Coffee and Chocolate altered its menu to add matcha after realizing customers gravitated toward tea-based drinks. Wave 3 pivoted to production and now supplys matcha to several local shops and bakeries, including Bearly Awake Coffee, Flour and Time Bakery, and The Postcard, which opened last year in the former Wave 3 space.
“We watched Atlanta’s matcha scene explode, but as it grew, we noticed a major gap in the quality available to cafes and home drinkers,” said Indira Pal, Wave 3 Matcha co-founder. “While we loved the coffee shop we built, our mission was to solve the sourcing frustrations we experienced. We pivoted to production to focus on bringing rare, small-batch harvests from Japan to a national audience.”
Buchko said he’s noticed that some Atlanta coffee shops are promoting the ground tea more on menus, even to the point where shops are foregoing espresso drinks in favor of matcha drinks.
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Beyond the coffee shop
But matcha’s impact on Atlanta isn’t limited to coffee shops and farmers markets. Matcha is also seeping into Atlanta’s cultural fabric.
Chanel Allen, founder of Atlanta-based direct-to-consumer brand Oohmami Matcha, pursues opportunities to sell matcha within the beauty and wellness industries. She hosts pop-ups at workout studios like Solidcore and salons like Purely Pampered Nail Spa.
Similarly, Shogun Matcha hosts sober parties with a DJ called “Matcha and Move.” The Artchive’s monthly Matcha Market pairs the beverage with local businesses looking to get their names out, including Table Haus ATL, Forged Rose Fragrances, and Growing Intentions.
“We build a strong community around it,” said Shogun Matcha founder Dan Tirmizi. “We’re really happy that Atlanta loves us. It’s our home base.”
The matcha cultivars
Not all matcha is created equal. The quality normally reflects the makeup of the beverage that contains matcha. The higher the matcha grade, the fewer additions a drink with matcha in it needs.
“Actually, with the highest grade, you don’t even want to drink it with milk,” Allen said. “You want to drink it straight with water.”
Just like with wine or coffee, green tea has numerous cultivars varying by region. Matcha grown in Uji, located south of Kyoto in Japan, has a distinct umami flavor, thanks to volcanic properties in the soil.
“Different regions are going to give you a different matcha,” Allen said. “All [cultivars] have different notes [and] flavor profiles that come through because of the soil.”
While Uji is the most-awarded region for matcha, that doesn’t make one particular region or cultivar the all-around best for the ground tea. Matcha cultivars are no longer exclusive to just Japan. Both China and Korea have recently emerged as growing markets for matcha.
Pal decided to expand matcha sourcing for Wave 3 to cities like Kagoshima, Yame, and Nishio.
“Once we began tasting more deeply across Japan, it became clear that some of the most beautiful matcha isn’t tied to one place,” Pal said. “It’s about the farmer, the cultivar, and how it’s grown and processed.”
“Expanding our sourcing lets us stay true to what we care about most: finding matcha that feels exceptional and special,” she added.
What makes good matcha
There are a few guidelines indicating a higher-quality matcha. Good matcha will feature a strong, grassy aroma and rich green color. The earlier the harvest, the younger the leaves, which yields a better taste.
A drink laden with cream and artificial sweeteners was likely made with lower-grade matcha. As with other beverages, however, it’s completely subjective. And don’t worry about getting “ceremonial grade.” According to Tirmizi, the term is pretty much meaningless.
“Ceremonial grade is a marketing gimmick started by a Canadian guy. It’s not even a term the Japanese use,” he said.
While you’ll see ceremonial grade listed on packaging, the term for these grades isn’t legally standardized. The label was created in order to sell matcha to Western countries. Your best bet is to always purchase matcha from a brand you trust.
