Matcha has risen from its niche tea beginnings to a worldwide phenomenon. Northeast Tea House in Minneapolis is facing a challenge that started thousands of miles away.
Simon Parish, owner of Northeast Tea House, mills a traditional tea leaf called tencha – a slow process that turns the raw tea leaf into vibrant green powder known as matcha. Tencha, however, is becoming harder to find due to tariffs, weather and societal factors.
“Though there are a lot of tea plants in Japan, most of them aren’t grown in that way,” Parish said. “In Japan, the statistics are something like 2% of the tea is turned into matcha.”…