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The Year Matcha Became Precious

By the Green Leaves, Liquid Gold tasting table

Published October 1, 2026

We have a rule in our tea house: never rush a bowl of tea. This year, the world learned why — not from philosophy, but from prices.

A boom no one saw coming

For the fiscal year ending March 2026, Japan exported 13,125 tonnes of green tea — a 42% jump in volume. The export value reached ¥84.7 billion, about $530 million, more than doubling with a 120% increase. Roughly 70% of that exported volume was powdered green tea, led by matcha. At the same time, Japan’s own green tea imports rose 82% to 5,801 tonnes, mostly from China — even the homeland was buying tea to keep up.

The Global Japanese Tea Association has described the period since autumn 2024 as an “unprecedented matcha shortage.” Kyoto’s legendary tea houses felt it firsthand: Ippodo and Marukyu Koyamaen suspended or capped matcha sales.

Then came the tencha auction — the first of 2026, held May 13 at the Uji Tea Distribution Center in Joyo City, Kyoto. Of 375 lots totaling 25,188 kg, the average winning price was ¥14,127 per kilogram — the highest in at least a decade, up about 72% from the previous year’s ¥8,235. The top lot reached ¥40,021 per kilogram; the cheapest still went for ¥7,200. Hand-picked Uji tencha commanded ¥52,086 per kilogram for the 2026 first flush.

Behind those numbers sits a quieter, sadder statistic: a record 13 Japanese tea producers suspended or dissolved in 2025, up from 8 the year before. Counting bankruptcies, 14 left the market. The boom is real, and so is the fragility.

What scarcity teaches

We have always believed that tea is a teacher of patience. This year, matcha itself became the lesson. When something you took for granted — a whisk, a bowl, that vivid green — turns scarce, you drink differently. You pay attention. You waste nothing.

Scarcity is not our enemy. In the tea house, it has always been a quiet reminder: this bowl exists once. The next will be different. The world is now experiencing, on a market scale, what tea drinkers have always known in miniature — that preciousness is not the opposite of pleasure. It is the condition of it.

The small shops behind the headlines

There is another side to this story, and it does not happen in auction houses. It happens in small tea shops, where tariffs, fuel costs, and supply shocks land on one person’s shoulders.

In Reston, Virginia, Rachel Rozner runs the Elden Street Tea Shop. As reported on September 2, 2026, she has been navigating a landscape where the U.S. government has issued at least $100 billion in tariff refunds — a windfall mostly captured by big businesses like Walmart and Target. Rozner applied for her own refunds and is still waiting; some of her vendors have reported receiving refunds and passing funds through vendor accounts.

Her costs tell the story: cardamom prices are up roughly 30%. In the newest round of Canada tariffs, tea was exempt — but as Rozner put it, that does not leave the business “safe and free and clear.”

We recognize this feeling. The people who grow, blend, and pour tea are rarely the ones making headlines — yet they are the ones absorbing every shock between the farm and the cup. When we write about the matcha boom, we are also writing about them: the shopkeepers doing the math at the counter, deciding what a bowl is worth when everything costs more and nothing is certain.

Drinking the year

So what do we do with a year like this? We do what the tea house has always done: we slow down. We whisk a little more carefully. We notice the color, the aroma, the way the foam settles. We remember that the producers who left the market in 2025 are gone, and the ones who remain are working harder than ever.

Matcha became precious this year. Maybe it always was, and we simply needed the prices to remind us. The boom will settle — booms always do — but the habit of savoring, once learned, does not have to leave with it.

That is our wish for every bowl you drink: that scarcity teaches you what abundance never could.

Frequently asked questions

Why did matcha prices rise so sharply in 2026?
At the first 2026 tencha auction (May 13, Uji Tea Distribution Center, Joyo City, Kyoto), the average winning price hit ¥14,127/kg — the highest in at least a decade, up ~72% from the prior year’s ¥8,235/kg. The Global Japanese Tea Association called the period since autumn 2024 an “unprecedented matcha shortage,” driven by surging global demand.

How much did Japan’s green tea exports grow?
For the fiscal year ending March 2026, Japan exported 13,125 tonnes of green tea (+42% volume), worth ¥84.7 billion (~$530 million), a 2.2-fold (+120%) increase. About 70% of export volume was powdered green tea led by matcha.

What is happening to Japanese tea producers?
A record 13 Japanese tea producers suspended or dissolved in 2025, up from 8; 14 left the market when bankruptcies are counted — even as demand and prices soared.

How are U.S. tea shops affected by tariffs?
As reported September 2, 2026, Elden Street Tea Shop owner Rachel Rozner of Reston, Virginia applied for tariff refunds and is still waiting, while some vendors have received refunds and passed funds through vendor accounts. Cardamom prices rose ~30%; tea was exempt from the newest Canada tariffs, but Rozner says that doesn’t leave the business “safe and free and clear.”

Sources

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