Matcha Calories: How Many Are in Your Cup?
A small amount of powder provides few calories. For a latte or dessert, count the milk, sugar, and servings too.
By Roseline Zhou, Founder
Contents
You've added a small spoonful of matcha to water and wonder how many calories it represents. A Japanese food composition table lists 237 kcal per about 3 1/2 oz (100 g) of powder. At about 1 tsp (2 g), that's about 4.7 kcal from the matcha alone. In a latte or dessert, the rest of the recipe changes the total.
We'd start with the weight of powder you actually added: “a matcha” isn't a fixed serving. This calculation helps compare your preparations without assigning the table's value to a Kura-ge product.
How many calories are in matcha powder?
The Japanese food composition table gives 237 kcal per about 3 1/2 oz (100 g) of matcha powder. For about 1 tsp (2 g), the calculation is 237 × 2 ÷ 100 = 4.74 kcal, rounded to about 4.7 kcal. This is for the powder alone.
The table also lists protein, fat, and carbohydrates. The nutrients in matcha are covered separately; here we're calculating energy. This figure describes neither every powder sold nor the amount you put in your bowl. To repeat the calculation for your cup, weigh the tea rather than relying on the volume of a spoonful.
What if you prepare matcha with water?
With about 1 tsp (2 g) of powder and only water, the calculated calories come from the powder. A larger bowl doesn't change that amount of matcha.
We'd distinguish the liquid's volume from the amount of powder. A tall glass may look more substantial than a small bowl without containing more matcha. This reference point stops being enough as soon as you add milk, syrup, or another ingredient.
How do you calculate calories in a matcha latte?
The total includes the matcha, milk, and anything else you add. Two lattes made with the same powder may therefore have different values. The type and amount of milk, along with the sugar, matter more than the drink's name.
Note each ingredient and its amount, then use the value on its label or in a food composition table. We wouldn't give a universal calorie count for a matcha latte: it would hide the difference between a plain cup and a sweetened one.
Dessert, tonic, or coconut water: what should you count?
In a matcha dessert, flour, fats, sugar, and the number of servings change the result. Calculate the entire recipe first, then divide it into servings. Matcha adds color and flavor, but its share of the calculation depends on the weight added.
For matcha tonic, a yuzu version, or one made with coconut water, read the liquid's ingredients too. Tonic, coconut water, and syrup don't all have the same value across products. We'd compare the ingredients actually poured rather than assigning a number to the drink's name.
Does this calculation say anything about weight?
No. The calories in a small amount of powder describe that amount's energy. They don't demonstrate any effect of matcha on weight. Studies of matcha and weight require a separate reading.