How many grams in a teaspoon of matcha
One level teaspoon of matcha weighs about 2 g. That figure comes from Ippodo, which lists its thin-tea dose as “2 g of matcha (1.5 heaped tea ladles or 1 level teaspoon).” Two level teaspoons make about 4 g, the koicha dose. A level tablespoon, which is 3 teaspoons, works out to roughly 6 g. For the full set of doses by drink, see our matcha brewing and ratios guides.
Just One Cookbook gives the same conversion from the other direction: 1 teaspoon, or 1½ heaping chashaku scoops, is “about 2 g.” Two independent sources, same answer. That’s about as solid as a volume-to-weight number gets for a fine powder.
The catch is the word level. A heaped teaspoon can hold a lot more, and a packed one more again. If your matcha tastes stronger or weaker than a recipe promises, the spoon is the first suspect.
Matcha teaspoon, chashaku scoop and tablespoon to grams chart
This chart uses Ippodo’s 2 g per level teaspoon and its 1.5 heaped scoops per 2 g, so one heaped chashaku scoop is about 1.33 g. Tablespoon figures are our arithmetic (1 US tablespoon = 3 teaspoons), not a separate measurement.
| Measure | Matcha | Heaped Scoops | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| ½ level tsp | About 1 g | ¾ | — |
| 1 level tsp | About 2 g | 1½ | Usucha dose |
| 1½ level tsp | About 3 g | 2¼ | Ippodo latte dose |
| 2 level tsp | About 4 g | 3 | Koicha dose |
| 1 level tbsp | About 6 g | 4½ | — |
| 2 level tbsp | About 12 g | — | — |
Going the other way, from grams back to spoons:
| Matcha | Spoons |
|---|---|
| 1 g | ≈ ½ tsp |
| 2 g | ≈ 1 tsp |
| 5 g | ≈ 2½ tsp |
| 10 g | ≈ 5 tsp, or 1⅔ tbsp |
| 30 g tin | ≈ 15 level tsp, so about 15 usucha servings |
That last row is handy when you’re pricing tins. A 30 g tin at the usucha dose gives about 15 bowls, at the latte dose about 10. We do the full per-serving math in matcha cost per cup.
Chashaku scoop grams: why sources say 1 g or 1.33 g
A chashaku is the thin bamboo scoop used in tea preparation. It isn’t a standardized measuring tool. Each one is carved, so the bowl of the scoop varies in length and curve.
That shows up in the numbers. Ippodo and Just One Cookbook both say 1.5 heaped scoops is about 2 g, which puts one heaped scoop near 1.33 g. Sugimoto describes 2 g as “about 2 chashaku scoops” and 4 g as about 4, which is closer to 1 g per scoop.
Both can be right for the scoops they use. A deeper scoop, a bigger heap or denser powder all push the weight up. So treat any scoop conversion as a starting point and check it against your own chashaku once (instructions below).
If you’re following a recipe written in scoops, the safest move is to convert it to grams using the author’s own conversion, not ours. A recipe that assumes 1 g scoops will taste half again as strong if your scoop holds 1.5 g.
Why your teaspoon of matcha may not weigh 2 g
Matcha is a very fine, light powder, so small changes in how you fill a spoon make proportionally big changes in weight. These are the usual causes:
- Level vs heaped: “1 teaspoon” in a recipe means level unless it says heaped. A heaped spoon of fine powder can hold far more than a level one.
- Packed vs loose: pressing the spoon into the tin compacts the powder. Scooping loosely and leveling with a knife gives the most repeatable result.
- Sifted vs unsifted: sifting breaks up clumps and adds air. A spoonful of freshly sifted powder is fluffier, so it should weigh a little less than the same spoon of compacted powder from the bottom of the tin.
- Measuring spoon vs table spoon: a US measuring teaspoon holds about 5 ml. The teaspoon from your cutlery drawer isn’t calibrated and can be noticeably bigger or smaller.
- Brand and grind: powders differ in particle size and moisture, so the same spoon may hold different weights of two brands.
None of this matters much for a daily bowl. It matters a lot for koicha, where 4 g in 30 ml leaves no room for error, and for caffeine tracking. Every gram of matcha carries roughly 18.9 to 44.4 mg of caffeine according to a 2020 review in Molecules, so a level teaspoon (2 g) works out to about 38 to 89 mg. A heavy-handed heap can push that higher. Our matcha caffeine calculator takes grams or teaspoons, and how much caffeine is in matcha explains the range.
How to weigh a teaspoon of matcha yourself
You don’t have to take anyone’s conversion on faith, including ours. A five-minute check gives you a number for your spoon and your matcha. You need a kitchen scale that reads to 0.1 g; a 1 g scale can’t tell 1.6 g from 2.4 g.
- Put a small bowl on the scale and press tare so it reads 0.0 g.
- Scoop a level teaspoon the way you normally would, scraping it flat with a knife, and tip it into the bowl.
- Repeat until you’ve added 10 spoonfuls. Write down the total.
- Divide by 10. That’s your average grams per level teaspoon.
- Empty the bowl, tare again, and repeat with 10 heaped spoons, then with your chashaku if you have one.
Weighing 10 at once and dividing averages out the small differences between scoops, and it gets around the scale’s resolution limit. If your average is close to 2 g, the standard recipes will work as written. If it’s 2.5 g, either use a slightly smaller scoop or adjust the water in the matcha ratio calculator.
Once you know the figure, you can usually put the scale away. Matcha from the same tin, scooped the same way, stays fairly consistent from bowl to bowl.
Which measure to use for usucha, lattes and koicha
For a regular bowl of thin matcha, a level teaspoon is fine. The 2 g / 60 ml ratio has a fair amount of leeway, and our matcha to water ratio chart shows how much the major sources already differ on water.
For lattes, 1½ level teaspoons (about 3 g) is Ippodo’s dose for 100 ml water plus 100 ml milk. Bigger drinks need more, and the gram amounts by cup size are in our matcha latte ratio guide.
For koicha, use a scale. Thick tea depends on the right amount of powder for a small amount of water, and spoon error shows immediately in the texture. Our usucha vs koicha comparison covers what thick tea should look like.