How does matcha's caffeine content compare to coffee — and is it really a healthy alternative?

Australia has forged a global reputation for the quality of its coffee, with Aussie-run cafes popping up in major cities including New York, Paris, London and Berlin.

At the same time, another storm has quietly been brewing in teacups and on TikTok, with matcha being increasingly embraced by for both its taste and perceived health benefits.

But is matcha really the healthy alternative to coffee that many believe it to be? And how does it stack up against coffee when it comes to delivering a caffeine hit?    

Much ado about matcha

A TikTok spokesperson confirms there has been a marked rise in search traffic for matcha-related videos on the platform in recent years, particularly among the popular "foodtok" community.

Other popular hashtag searches include #matchalatte, which has had more than 1.7 billion views, #matchapowder, #icedmatcha and #matcharecipe.

So, to ask the same question millions of social users have: what is matcha — and how does it differ from traditional green tea?

A social cuppa or 'holistic health'?

All green tea is derived from the same plant — Camellia sinesis — and traditional green tea is a brew made from its dried, harvested leaves.

Although it comes from the same plant, to produce matcha, the leaves are shaded from direct sunlight for three to four weeks before harvesting — which results in higher levels of caffeine and antioxidants — and the whole leaves are then ground into a powder.

Treasure McGuire, an associate professor of pharmacology at Bond University and assistant director of pharmacy at Brisbane's Mater Hospital, says matcha delivers a comparatively higher dose of caffeine per volume than either black tea or regularly brewed green tea.

A 250-millilitre cup of coffee contains about 100 milligrams of caffeine, and according to Dr McGuire, a cup of black tea has between 45mg and 75mg of caffeine, and green tea between 24mg and 45mg.

She says the same volume of matcha would typically have 60–75mg of caffeine but "the difference with matcha is it contains other active ingredients, which the green tea and the coffee bean has much less of".

"Caffeine is by no means the most important component [in matcha], but it happens to be a higher quantum of caffeine than the black and the green tea, so people think they're getting more bang for their buck, [that] they're getting a higher caffeine dose," Dr McGuire says.

Because the concentration of caffeine and other active ingredients in matcha is not always uniform or predictable, Dr McGuire recommends those reaching for a cuppa for the purposes of staying alert and awake opt for "something that's pure of caffeine and less other ingredients", such as coffee.

"If you're wanting something that you're using as part of a more holistic sort of approach to improving health, then I can't argue that matcha may have a benefit in that space," she says.

"[But] when we start to get into things like matcha, where there's a grey line between a social beverage and a health food — which is how people are drinking it, how it's being portrayed. Then [matcha producers] tend to grow and harvest with those health benefits in mind and [the matcha] will have much higher content than what you might find if you just took a Cameliia plant and took off the leaves and brewed them up."

But she warns matcha also contains other active ingredients, which have antioxidant properties, and matcha drinkers may be "getting all these other properties that they may or may not want — or they may or may not need".

Potential health risks

Matcha is often touted for its supposed health benefits, with claims it can assist with weight loss, and although some studies have shown green tea preparations may have the ability to induce a small reduction in weight loss, the results were deemed "not likely to be clinically important" and ultimately found green tea had "no significant effect on the maintenance of weight loss".

Matcha also contains high levels of quercetin, which is feted for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties but can also interfere with the body's ability to absorb and regulate medication.

As Dr McGuire explains, quercetin goes through the same pathways as some antibiotics and medications, including those used to treat conditions such as hypertension and some chemotherapy drugs, creating "competition for that drug to be eliminated through the liver".

"People forget that plants used in this way, in sufficient doses, are drugs. It doesn't matter that they come from a plant — and they can have positive as well as negative benefits, just like any other drug."

This is general information only. For detailed personal advice, you should see a qualified medical practitioner who knows your medical history.