Where to Get the Best Matcha 2025

It’s no secret that matcha’s popularity has been growing at breakneck speed. The desire for matcha in 2025 has skyrocketed, causing shortages in Japan and around the world.

But why are people suddenly so interested in the earthy, whole-leaf tea? Let’s dive into what it is, how to drink it, and where to get the best matcha.

Hint: You can buy your own in the US thanks to expert distributors and matcha aficionados associated with real farms in Japan. And don’t forget to check out the recipe for making your own Black Sesame Banana Matcha Latte down below.

Why is everyone so obsessed with this leafy green, earthy, and sometimes downright grassy tea? Popularized in Japan back in the Kamakura Period (1192-1333), matcha has been enjoyed by zen masters, samurai, monks, and regular ‘ole people for centuries.

In Japan, the tea ceremony and wabi-cha rustic aesthetic were popularized by tea master, Sen-no-Rikyu. His minimalistic approach to the tea ceremony and sense of equality and aesthetics sought to level the playing field for all enjoyers of matcha. Anyone could enjoy it regardless of creed; leave your weapons and pride at the door.

Additionally, matcha has a relatively high caffeine content thanks to its whole-leaf composition. It also has a good balance of the amino acid L-theanine, which helps relieve jitters and gives long-lasting alertness.

There are many health benefits observed from drinking green teas like matcha. They have a high level of antioxidants like catechins and polyphenols. In addition to its healthfulness and cultural significance, matcha’s tannic, herbaceous flavor makes a perfect pairing for sweets.

Matcha has come to the US in more recent years, mainly in the form of sweetened lattes at hip cafes. The quality of these lattes varies anywhere from sweet and vaguely green to high-quality, tongue-tingling tea.

Especially in California, where there is a large asian presence, these offerings quickly became widely available. Cafes like Stonemill Matcha in San Francisco have popped up, bringing high-quality matcha to the scene.

While matcha has been popular in California for some time, its popularity has spread all over the US. This is partially due to social media virality from TikTok, and of course, the reopening of Japan’s tourism in 2022.

Where to Get the Best Matcha in 2025

There are tons of great matcha suppliers if you know where to look. While shortages have become a real issue, you can still find matcha online and even in person. Some popular brands include Ippodo and Nakamura Tokichi.

But whether you’re searching for matcha to take home yourself, or expertly made matcha lattes, look no further than The Exit Plan and Xolo Tea Matcha in Richmond, Virginia.

I spoke to my friend, coffee and matcha expert, Jace, about his business bringing matcha to his community in Richmond. His matcha has been taking RVA by storm, but this business isn’t just a matcha cart.

The Exit Plan is a business focused on bringing attention to the community and more. It’s about funding queer and trans people’s ability to emigrate and find peace and joy.

Read on for his expert opinion on delicious matcha, what it’s like to be in the specialty coffee and tea industry, picking tea in Kyoto, and more.

Jace is a business owner based in Richmond Virginia, selling high-quality matcha drinks. He is trans, queer, and Mexican. His identity and heritage intersect with his deep respect and love of Japanese culture and cafe culture.

Jace’s highly praised drinks and creative recipes stem from a deep appreciation of matcha, years in the specialty coffee industry, and love of Japan.

But his business, The Exit Plan, isn’t just a matcha cart. It’s a vector for his own exit plan to emigrate to Australia. I’ll let him tell you all about it. And if you want to buy his matcha, Xolo (pronounced “show-low”), or support his exit plan, check out his website or Instagram.

Without further ado, let’s get into the interview.

Interview

Can you briefly introduce yourself to the readers?

Jace: So, my name is Jace. I am 26 years old, originally from California. I know Kat through university. And we’re good friends, that’s very important.

Kat: Thank you (laughs).

J: I have been in the specialty coffee industry for about 6 years or so, now. I’m new to the tea industry, but I’m currently working as a “tea person”. I’m not sure if there’s a specific name for it. A “tea purveyor”?

K: A “tea-rista”?

J: “Tea-rista”, yeah. I own a matcha cart, but it’s also a mutual aid project that I’m working on. It’s pretty new. I’m about 4 months into it so far, here in Richmond, VA. It’s called The Exit Plan, and that is my only job right now.

K: Well, including all of the marketing, sales, and social media…

J: Yeah, I say that’s my only job, but that only job has a lot of roles to it.

Could you tell me a little bit more about the philosophy behind The Exit Plan?

J: Absolutely. So, it’s called The Exit Plan because I really wanted to bring attention to the name itself. When you think of a matcha cart and you see the words, The Exit Plan, you’re like, “That’s not the name of a matcha cart”.

People will always ask questions, so I named my business that to prompt the question of “What is The Exit Plan?”

So, The Exit Plan is a business model helping people create strategies to empower themselves, to have different exit plans. Whether that be starting your own business or leaving the country, a bad job, or an abusive relationship.

So, I want to have this network where people can empower themselves to create those exit plans. And I also offer business consulting, and help people start businesses, and help them talk through different visas, different options, or whatever they might need.

K: Very cool, I love it.

What was your first experience with matcha, and does that tie into what you’re doing now?

K: Would you consider the time you saw a *maiko in Kyoto your first matcha experience?

J: I wouldn’t say it was my first matcha experience. I can’t specifically remember what my first matcha experience was because it was back in 2016, so almost 10 years ago. I’ve been having matcha for a long time now.

Definitely my first time having a hand-whisked matcha plain was during that trip in Kyoto, where we got to meet the Maiko.

K: But it’s changed so much since back then. That was 2017, right?

J: Yeah, the matcha quality looks terrible (laughs). It’s like brown-ish, yellow. But at the time, we were like “Whoa, it’s so green.” Matcha standards now are kind of crazy, at least in the US.

So that was my first big experience. Also, I don’t remember where it was, but on one of our trips during study abroad, there was matcha soft-serve ice cream.

K: Yes!

J: It had different levels of matcha! I think it went up to level 10. I did a 7 or 8. Omg. 

K: It was so matcha-y. I still think back to those moments; that was the best matcha ice cream I’ve ever had.

J: It was so good. And I’ve looked for that place, but I don’t know where it is! I looked when I was in Kyoto last, but I couldn’t find it.

K: Things closed because of the pandemic. So, it’s possible it didn’t stay open, though I hope it did.

J: In the US, one of my best matcha experiences was Stone Mill Matcha. I also went to a tea room in Manchester, England. You order your stuff ahead of time, and while you’re there, you’re not allowed to speak, to take photos. It was very cool and peaceful. We just got to sit and enjoy our matcha.

K: Nice, do you remember the name of the shop?

J: Yeah, it was CHA-OLOGY. It was super cool. If you go onto their website, you’ll see the way they talk about matcha and the experience of tea. It was a cool experience.

*A maiko is a geisha in training.

I know you started with coffee and moved to tea. Tell me about your background as a barista.

K: Is there anything about starting that journey that you want to talk about? I also know your first business idea was to create a space for the LGBTQ+ community, so is that connected to this?

J: It has definitely evolved into the same type of journey. I didn’t originally go to school wanting to be a barista or be in the specialty coffee industry. But once I started school, my freshman year of university, I quickly decided that’s what I wanted to do.

It’s about empowering and giving jobs to people and making sure they’re being paid fair– that’s what I’ve always been passionate about. 

So, then I started in the specialty coffee industry by moving to Japan. I immediately studied abroad my sophomore year. I got a couple of scholarships to go to Japan through the US-Japan Bridging Foundation, and then I also got a micro scholarship, the Ward Wallach Memorial Scholarship.

And what I wrote was about starting a business to empower folks and offer jobs to queer people and different minorities. I was able to get 3 different scholarships for that.

So, I moved to Japan and went to school there. I would go to different specialty coffee shops with my friends, and we lived right next door to one, so that was cool to go to. 

Then I started learning more about the difference between the coffee I was exposed to in the US, which was more like the Starbucks type: these sugary drinks.

But when I moved to Japan, I learned a lot more about “slow life” and appreciating the actual bean, all of the work that’s behind it, and enjoying it in a more simple form.

Once I came back to the US, I finished my degree. I graduated in 2020, which was not a great time to graduate when you’re trying to start a business. That was the first graduating class of COVID. So, my career goals had to be put on hold because I was going to start a catering company at the time.

So, I started working odd jobs for a little bit before I got a job at a coffee shop in Trinidad, California. It was a touristy place, so I started learning actual commercial experience then, and quickly got promoted through all of the different jobs. Then I moved to a different coffee shop in Humboldt County, CA, did some lead work, then I left California. 

I moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, and I stayed with my friend and did some odd jobs for a while. Then I started working at another specialty coffee shop. This one was way more specialty than the ones I worked for previously. But I knew a lot about specialty coffee.

I did a lot of pour-over trainings, I would do classes and travel around the US, just learning more about coffee. So I did a lot of independent learning. I helped open a couple of shops with that first job. Then I moved to a different cafe in Vegas, and that one was super-ultra-specialty. It was super cool. I think that was my best one. 

K: Was that the one in the casino? 

J: Yeah that was Vesta. That one was super cool. We did a lot of different pour-overs, really dialing in our espresso, playing around with matcha a lot more, too. At that shop we actually had three different matcha that we used. Which were Ippodo: Ikuyo, and Ummon. We had different matcha that you could choose from there. So I got to play with matcha more while I was working there.

I was there for the grand opening in the casino. I was a lead there, so I helped train the opening team. So when I say I helped open it, I wasn’t a manager. I was a lead who was a trainer, in charge of the money, and taking care of the bar staff specifically.

And then I left that job, and I went and worked for another one; I helped open a shop for Coffee Religion. So, I was hired to help open two different locations. I opened the first location, helped out, was the manager there, did all the management stuff, and helped with curation.

I even curated the matcha for them because I had my own supplier for matcha that I had personally cultivated. Then, by the time the second location was ready to open, I had helped with it, but I decided to move to Richmond. Then I started my new job, which was also opening a coffee shop for someone.

So that’s my specialty experience. By the time I was at Vesta, which was the highest-level specialty shop I worked at, I still knew more than most people there. So, there was a lot of self learning that I was doing, a lot of travel, all that. I was really set on learning things myself. Even with matcha, that year prior, 2023, I had gone to Japan for about 2 months. 

Tell me about your Kyoto tea-picking experience.

J: Yes. So, that was a farm in Wazuka, Kyoto. I didn’t realize Kyoto was that big, because I’d been to Kyoto a couple of times. When I was in the city center, they told me, “You need to take a bus an hour and a half.”

I’m like, “I thought you said it was in Kyoto.”

They were like, “Oh, it’s still in Kyoto.”

K: Wow.

J: Yeah, so Wazuka was far. I was on a bus an hour and a half to the location, and there was only one bus in. It was wild. So that was at d:matcha in Wazuka, Kyoto. It was a really cool experience. It’s still available for booking now.

So, I went with the owner, Daiki, on a tour around the area. We saw a shrine or temple, and he showed us some different architecture and some different houses that he was restoring. He wasn’t just renovating, he was restoring them to their original form to keep the integrity of the culture and history.

K: Okay.

J: I was very inspired by Daiki. He told me he went to Kyoto University for agriculture. I believe he didn’t work in agriculture before, and he was brand new to the tea industry, but he was very passionate about it. He got his first plot in Wazuka and worked on it, and made it really nice.

Then, because of the area he was in, a lot of the farmers around him were aging out and retiring, and weren’t able to take care of their crops. So, slowly, he started acquiring them – not in a greedy, money-hungry way, but in a kind and respectful way. He was helping the community there be revitalized, and he was very close with the people in the community. He was really cultivating a farming community.

K: Almost more like inheriting it than taking over.

J: Exactly. It’s just beautiful. They were growing their own rice and food; he took us through all the different machinery. And seeing how much love went through all of it, I could just tell how passionate he was, and such a kind, good-spirited person. I was very inspired, and I loved that experience. We got to pick some tea leaves, and he fried them up into tempura.

K: Ooh.

J: It was good, but it just tasted like tempura leaf (laughs). Just imagine eating a leaf and then imagine tempura batter on it.

K: It’s very Japanese (laughs).

J: Yeah, it tastes exactly as you imagine. We also got to do a little matcha tasting and taste different teas, like sencha. We had some different desserts. I was with my sister, and by the time we were done, we were so caffeinated. I was in a different dimension. It was crazy.

Could you tell me about your matcha brand? What’s the story behind Xolo, and how did you start it?

J: I chose “Xolo” after the Mexican hairless dogs. I really wanted to add an element from my Mexican culture to it, and I wanted it to be cool. I was at the Frida Kahlo exhibit here in Richmond. She actually started a program that revitalized and brought back Xolo dogs from near extinction. 

K: Wow.

J: She had this shelter for Xolo dogs, so that was a big part of her life. It was a photography exhibit with Frida’s life and some art sprinkled here and there. So, I got to see photos of her shelters. That was one of the reasons why I decided to make that part of my brand.

K: It’s so cool. I love the intersectionality of what you’re doing, between The Exit Plan and Xolo, because you are bringing matcha to the masses in RVA, and you’re also bringing parts of your background to it.

Your love of Japanese culture and creating a space for people of different backgrounds to enjoy the experience of matcha is so great.

J: That’s exactly what my goals were. I really wanted to push my diversity. I wanted people to see how cultures can blend. So that was important to me when starting the brand, because I could’ve just done a basic vanilla brand.

K: Very Japanese themed or…

J: Yeah, and I wanted to be authentic to myself, and just do something that had more to it, if that makes sense. And I think it’s really cute.

K: Yeah!

J: There’s also an element of queer culture to it.

K: Oh, do tell?

J: So, I don’t know if you’ve seen some photos of Xolo dogs, but they’re baddies. They’re just so cool looking, and they look very similar to Dobermans, but hairless. 

K: Oh, cute.

J: To me, there’s a connection because there’s a lot of queer imagery of dogs. There’s very famous queer imagery of a Doberman dog collared and barking, and I know so many other trans guys who have Dobermans on them. I’m not sure exactly where the origins are, but when I saw the Xolo dog, I was like, “They look like baddies.” So, to me it connected to queerness as well.

K: I think there’s something interesting about the look of the dog. It can be used as a masculine symbol, but it has this sleek shape language to the dog that’s evocative of something feminine, too, if that makes sense.

J: Yeah, I agree.

How did you source the matcha for Xolo?

J: So the process of selling and acquiring matcha is very interesting, if you think about the tea industry as a whole. I feel like it’s very important to set the stage for this: You can go to a tea shop, for example, in Richmond, there’s a popular tea shop called CaryTown Teas. And they’re a purveyor of teas. What you’re paying for is curating the teas. 

And a lot of times, there’s not a ton of transparency of where a shop gets their teas. There is some transparency in that they’ll say what region it’s from, but they won’t go so in-depth that it’s from this farmer, it’s this exact varietal, it’s the first flush, etc.

Most tea companies don’t do that. But recently, there’s been a trend of wanting extremely high amounts of transparency. And the coffee industry has been doing this for many years now, so it’s very easy to find all of those transparency reports of where the beans are coming from. Tea isn’t really there yet.

So what I do is private-label my matcha. Some people would be upset that I private-label it simply because they want to know, “Where are you getting it? Have you been to the farm?”

I acquired the tea by going to the Specialty Coffee Expo, tasting the tea, and deciding that I liked the tea. After the trade show, I had the company send me samples, and I chose what I liked, and that’s about it for the story.

Am I directly connected with the farmer? No. I’m connected with an importer instead. It’s a little hard when I have to explain because people expect me to have a direct relationship with the farmer. But it’s actually really hard to do that, especially with…

K: The language barrier?

J : The language barrier, different cultural norms, the way of doing business. That’s why a lot of times it’s done through a specific importer, a tea broker. But there are different tea brokers you can go through, for example, there’s Yunomi, and they have tons and tons of tea that you can buy and sample.

I originally got this matcha because I could no longer get matcha from d:matcha due to the matcha shortage. I did love carrying them because I had that direct connection, but right now it’s just not possible. And in the future, I do want to work towards that, but right now, my customers are extremely happy with my product.

They love how it tastes, it looks great, tastes great, people are happy. And I cannot say the exact farm I’m getting it from, but I can say the region, because that’s what my broker is giving me. It’s a blend from Wazuka and Uji.

K: Okay.

J: Yeah, you can also get matcha from Shizuoka and other areas in Japan. But mine’s from the Kyoto area.

K: It sounds mutually beneficial. It doesn’t sound like some shady thing.

J: Yeah, I’m not just getting some teas and repackaging them. Which other companies do, actually. And there is a question of ethics with that, especially with matcha. But if you think about the herb trade or spice trade, a lot of the time, people are just wholesaling it and repackaging it under their own brand. But it’s a very complicated matter. I think maybe one day tea will get to the point where coffee is.

But as for how I decided to start this brand: I ran out of matcha, so I ended up sourcing from this new supplier. I originally asked them if I could sell the tea under their name, and they said, “No,” because this supplier is a business-to-business (B2B) only.

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You can’t sell it under their company name. So I was getting customers asking, “Where do you get this matcha? Where can I buy it?” And I couldn’t tell them.

K: They can buy it from you.

J: Yeah, there are also confidentiality notices you have to sign. When you’re doing B2B trade, a lot of people think you can give out those secrets, but I’ve signed so many confidentiality papers already. That stuff is really kept guarded.

So I wanted to sell the matcha that I was carrying as retail, and the only way they’re allowing me to do that is to label it under my own brand. So that’s how I ended up starting the brand. It wasn’t my intention, but I had a lot of people asking for it.

K: Give the people what they want!

Do you have any other recommended matcha brands?

J: There’s a lot of really good matcha right now, but it’s difficult to get ahold of it.

And there’s a lot of good matcha, but there’s also a lot of bad matcha, or matcha that’s not meant for milk drinks. There’s a lot of weirdness in the matcha industry right now. I think everyone is trying to navigate it.

But I love d:matcha, they have really great matcha if you can get your hands on it. They’re more in stock compared to other places because they’re not very popular yet, but I’m sure they will be.

In the US, I’ve heard that Kettl is really good, but I’ve not personally had them. I frequently go to cafes, and when they have matcha, I’ll typically ask them where they get their matcha from.

My favorite used to be Ippodo. Which, now I’m basic for saying that. I’ve been getting Ippodo for 6 years.

K: You’re not basic (laughs).

J: But if you go on TikTok, Ippodo’s everywhere. It’s so hard to get Ippodo now, it’s so crazy.

K: It must be good, right?

J: Yeah, it’s good, but recently, because of the matcha shortages, it’s impossible to get. I would also get another basic one, Tokichi. Then I would buy the one from d:matcha. That’s what I would usually drink at home. 

J: Also, this is before the matcha craze, but I have a huge amount of matcha from random spots in Kyoto. I didn’t care if I had it improperly stored; I would drink it anyway (laughs).

Find out where and when The Exit Plan matcha cart will be here. And follow his brand, Xolo Tea, for information on the latest matcha drops. If you want to support his journey, consider buying merch or donating to his exit fund.

Jace’s Black Sesame Banana Matcha Latte Recipe 

This recipe is one of my favorites that I serve at my matcha cart. The method I use to make the banana syrup is called a cheong or an oleo saccharum. It’s a method where sugar extracts the oils in fruit peels to create a syrup.

All of my drinks are vegan, but heavy cream can be substituted instead of plant-based heavy cream. A scale is needed for this recipe!

Black Sesame Banana Matcha Latte (16oz)

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Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients

  

Banana Syrup

• 2 Bananas yellowish green
• Equal parts Sugar
• 1 pinch Salt

Black Sesame Cold Foam

• 50 g Country Crock heavy cream  (plant-based)
• 15 g Black Sesame Paste
• 10 g Brown Sugar
• 10 g Oat Milk

Black Sesame Banana Matcha Latte (16oz)

• 4 g Xolo Tea matcha
• 45 g Warm Water
• 45 g Banana Syrup
• Black Sesame Cold Foam to taste
• 1 3/4 cup Ghost Town Oat milk or to taste
• Ice Cubes

Equipment

• 1 16oz cup
• 1 matcha whisk
• 1 matcha bowl
• 1 food thermometer
• 1 food scale
• 2 Bowls or tupperware

Method

 

Banana Syrup

1. Wash the bananas well and dry.
2. Separate banana peels and the banana fruit. Store the banana fruit in the refrigerator. Both will be used in this recipe.
3. Cut both ends of the banana peel and discard. Chop the rest of the banana into 1cm slivers.
4. Weigh the banana peels in a bowl and add equal parts of sugar. For example, 100g of peels and 100g of sugar.
5. Add a pinch of salt and mix the peels and the sugar until the peels are evenly coated with sugar. Cover the mixture.
6. Leave the mixture at room temperature. The peels and sugar will create a sugar oil syrup. You can either mix them every hour to make the sugar dissolve faster or you can leave the mixture overnight. Once all of the sugar is dissolved, remove the banana peels from the syrup.
7. Bring out the stored banana fruit and add the fruit to the syrup. Mash or blend until the syrup and banana is homogenous.

Black Sesame Cold Foam

1. Weigh out all ingredients in a container.
2. Whisk using a frother until desired consistency.
3. Taste and adjust recipe according to your preferences

Black Sesame Banana Matcha Latte (16oz)

1. Sift 4g of matcha into a bowl.
2. Add 45g of water (either warm or room temp) and whisk until a smooth microfoam is created.
3. Add 45g of banana syrup to a 16oz iced cup. Adjust for desired sweetness.
4. Fill the cup with ice and add oat milk. Leave about a 1 ½ inch of space at the top of the cup.
5. Pour matcha over the milk.
6. Pour black sesame cold foam over the matcha. Give it a good mix before drinking!