For years, “matcha” basically meant “Japan”, with China being now the largest producer and exporter. That’s a full stop. In mid-2026, a tea estate in Assam, India, sold the country’s first-ever commercial batch of matcha, made from a local plant and tuned to be smoother and less bitter than the Japanese original. India joins a

Matcha has a reputation for being “grassy” but this is a misunderstanding and usually a sign of poor-quality, low-grade, or improperly processed matcha.High-grade ceremonial matcha has a very different flavor + aroma profile, shaped by shading, grinding, and the chemistry of tea aroma molecules. Here’s what matcha smell and taste is supposed to be like