What Matcha does Starbucks use ?

Who doesn’t like Starbucks ? Have you ever stopped by and were tempted by a matcha latte ? But then you ask yourself, is Starbucks Matcha really healthy ? And what matcha do they really use ? 🤔 Well, we’re here to answer your questions !

What is matcha ? And why should you pay attention to which matcha you really drink ?

Matcha is a finely ground green tea, which contains antioxidants that may help lower blood pressure, reduce your chance of developing heart disease, and boost your metabolism.

The benefits are endless, but you should know that the benefits amount could varie depending of the matcha quality.

In fact, there are different grades and prices of Matcha, depending on the selection of leaves that will be used, the manufacturing process, the harvest period etc…

The main different grades would be : the “culinary” grade, the “premium” grade and the “ceremonial” grade.

Of course, whenever is possible, you should choose a ceremonial grade to get the most of the benefits.

You can read this article to know more about matcha and what are its benefits.

Matcha is becoming a trending drink, and it’s a good thing when you know how it could improve your life. As it’s becoming a trend, a lot of brands or companies would incorrectly used the term “matcha” just to promote their products as a healthy one, which in reality sometimes it is not. 🤯

So, going to Starbucks you could be tempted to take a matcha latte instead of your usual coffee, and feel like an healthier person. But you should ask yourself first if the Matcha that Starbucks use is a good quality one, and if it’s a healthy one.

Let’s have a look together ! 😏 

What Matcha does Starbucks use ? Is it healthy ?

It’s really hard to say where is Starbucks Matcha coming from as there is nothing official and they do not disclose the brand or the source of matcha that they use. But one thing that we’re sure about it, is that Starbucks Matcha powder is a sweetened matcha powder… And let us tell you how bad this is… 😒

As we talked about it a bit earlier, there are different grades and prices of matcha. Of couse, cheaper would be your matcha, bitter it would be, and to hide this taste that a lot of people would not feel confident with, people add a lot of sugar and other flavor to hide the bitterness. So even if we can’t say for sure that Starbucks is not using a Ceremonial grade Matcha, we’re tempted to think, why would they use an already sweetened matcha powder then ?

We tried several time, and in different countries, to ask for a matcha without any sugar, but our matcha latte always ended up being sweet, we let you imagine when you ask for a bit of sugar, the drink is actually extra sweet !

We did extra researches, when you go on the Starbucks website and you look for a Matcha Latte, you can see that the first ingredient of their Matcha powder is actually sugar which mean that there is more sugar than Matcha, but then you need to add the sugar that your choice of milk, contains. In fact, if you choose for example an oat milk or coconut milk, you can be sure that it also contains sugar in it. A Matcha Latte with normal milk, for a Grande size contains 240 calories, 32 gr of sugar !

Other studies also show that Starbucks Matcha could have a third ingredient which is the fruit pectin. It’s crucial for you to choose a well trusted matcha with only one ingredient !

Few tips for you to choose should be the source : your matcha should come from Japan, like for example from the Uji region, where they produce the best matcha in the world, thanks to its geographic location, and climate. Your matcha should also have the organic label, and should be a Ceremonial grade.

If you make your matcha latte at home with Hakuna Matchacha which is a Ceremonial organic grade, with your homemade oat milk, you can be sure of what you’re actually drinking, and that it’s 100% healthy, without any added sugar. If you need a bit of sugar but still want to stay healthy, we recommend you to add in your homemade milk, a date, or to add in your Matcha latte a bit of honey for example.

No need to explain further why Starbucks Matcha is then not a healthy drink… Of course  you would still get the benefits such as the soft energy boost.

Unfortunately, after trying several matcha latte in different cafes in Dubai, we realized that almost all of them are using low grade and already sweetened matcha powder.

But consuming Hakuna Matchacha instead which is a high quality authentic matcha, would allow you to enjoy the maximum amount of antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, etc..

What about the cost ?

Starbucks Matcha is for sure not as healthy as your Hakuna Matchacha would be. But you also have to compare the price and you could be really surprised how Hakuna Matchacha could make you save a lot.

One Matcha Latte cost approximatively 25 AED without any additional milk preference. If you choose our Refill pouch of 60gr, you can make between 40 to 60 Matcha latte, depending how you like to dose it. The worst case, if you make 40 of them out of your 60gr, one Matcha Latte would cost you 4,75 AED of matcha (of course you need to add the cost of your milk).

Bette value, better quality, more benefits… we recommend you trying it once to understand… 💚

Conclusion :

 Matcha should definitely be a drink that you should consider to start drinking as it contains so many benefits. As it’s becoming more and more a trending drink, Matcha is unfortunately sometimes used incorrectly. A lot of brands or companies would use the term Matcha to make you believe that their products is healthy. But a good quality matcha is really particular. It should be coming from only certains regions of the world, and it should be produced and harvested only following certain procedures, which of couse increase its coasts.

A lot of cafés or brands promote their matcha latte, and would make you pay a lot for it, which in reality most of the time they would use a lower grade, which is not a good quality matcha and which decreases a lot its benefits. To hide the low quality taste (most of the time you can recognize it with the bitterness) they would add a lot of sugar which is of course not healthy.

Regarding Starbucks, they do not disclose which brand of Matcha they use, or where it’s coming from, but we assume that it is a lower grade, as it’s a sweetened matcha powder, and the main ingredient is sugar…

We really recommend you making your own matcha latte at home to get all the benefits that a high quality matcha has to offer. Moreover you could save a lot !

We recommend you having a look out our Hakuna Matchacha, which is a Ceremonial grade, and our matcha is certified organic. The two co-founders of Hakuna Matchacha went directly to Japan to meet their producers in the region of Uji where is produced the best matcha in the world thanks to its climate and geographic zone. 🌍

We hope that now you know a bit more about Matcha and that it will help you making the right decision while choosing to drink matcha in the future, and you can always contact us if you have any questions or queries.