Nara Matcha K53
Our lowest cost per drink. Culinary-grade matcha from Nara for high-volume matcha programmes where price is the binding constraint.
K53 exists for one reason: to make matcha cheap enough to keep on the menu every day. At $120 per kilogram it works out to roughly $0.36 per latte at 3g - a figure that changes what is possible on a café menu, especially if matcha is a volume item rather than a specialty one.
It is a culinary grade built for milk-based drinks, so it is designed to hold up against dairy, ice, and sweetener rather than to be whisked and sipped plain. If you serve matcha as a tea, this is not the one.
The honest framing: you are trading the subtleties that only show up in a plain bowl for a cost per drink roughly a third of our premium option. In a sweetened iced latte, most customers will not be able to tell you which one they are drinking. Order the sample and check that against your own recipe before you take our word for it.
Chosen in Japan. NOT THE MATCHA is run by a Japanese company, and every matcha we list is selected here against one test: does it still taste clean in a latte, at a price a café can serve every day.
What it’s built for
- High-volume matcha latte programmes
- Sweetened and iced drinks where cost per cup drives the menu
- Bulk applications - baking, soft serve, ready-to-drink
How to use it
- Hot latte
- 3g matcha, 60ml water at about 80°C, then 180-200ml milk.
- Iced latte
- 3-4g matcha, dissolve in water first so it does not clump on ice.
- High volume
- Batch a concentrate and keep it cold, but make it the same day - matcha dulls once mixed.
Specification
| Origin | Nara, Japan |
|---|---|
| Grade | Culinary / everyday (K #53) |
| Form | Fine powder, unsweetened, single ingredient |
| Pack sizes | 20g sample, 1kg, 3kg, 5kg |
| Best for | High-volume lattes, sweetened and iced drinks, bulk applications |
| Cost per latte | About $0.36 at 3g per drink |
Storage
Keep the bag sealed, cool, dry, and out of direct light. Matcha loses colour and aroma to air, heat, and time rather than spoiling, so buy a quantity you will get through in a few months rather than a year of stock to chase a discount.
Frequently asked
- Is cheap matcha lower quality?
- Price mostly reflects shading time, harvest timing, and milling - all of which you taste when matcha is whisked plain and mostly cannot taste under milk and sweetener. For latte volume the relevant test is whether it stays clean under milk, not what it costs.
- Should I use more of it to compensate?
- Start at your usual dose and taste it. If you want it more matcha-forward, going up a gram still leaves this the lowest cost per drink in our range.
- Who selects the matcha?
- We do, in Japan. NOT THE MATCHA is run by a Japanese company and we buy directly from Japanese producers. Affordable matcha usually raises the question of who actually chose it - this is our answer.
- Can I order a sample before buying a kilogram?
- Yes. Every product is available as a 20g sample. Make the drink you actually sell, at your usual dose, and taste it before committing to bulk.
- How many drinks does 1kg make?
- About 333 lattes at 3g per drink, 500 at 2g, and 250 at 4g. Divide the price per kilogram by that number to compare suppliers on cost per drink.
Read next
- How to buy affordable matcha without getting burned
- How much should matcha cost per kg?
- Chinese matcha vs. Japanese matcha
Buying for a café or a brand? Wholesale pricing for every size is published on the wholesale page, and 20g samples are there to be ordered before you commit to a kilogram.