What is the matcha to water ratio?
The standard matcha to water ratio is 2 g of matcha to 60 ml of water at 80 °C (176 °F), or 1:30 by weight. That is Ippodo’s recipe for thin matcha (usucha). Thick matcha (koicha) uses 4 g to 30 ml (1:7.5), and Ippodo’s latte uses about 3 g in 100 ml of water plus 100 ml of milk. Every brewing number we track is collected in our matcha brewing ratios and methods hub.
If you don’t own a scale, 2 g is roughly one level teaspoon. Ippodo’s own instructions put it as “2 g of matcha (1.5 heaped tea ladles or 1 level teaspoon).” Teaspoons drift, though, and we explain why in our guide to how many grams are in a teaspoon of matcha.
So why does this question have so many different answers online? Because every source picks a slightly different water amount, and few pages put those sources side by side. This page does. The chart below lines up the ratios, and the section after it shows exactly where the well-known recipes diverge.
Want to skip the math? Plug your cup size into the matcha ratio calculator and it returns grams, teaspoons and water at the same Ippodo baseline.
Matcha ratio chart: grams, ml and temperature by style
These are the reference numbers we build every WhiskMetrics calculator on. The usucha, koicha and latte rows come straight from Ippodo’s published brewing instructions and its matcha latte recipe. The ratio column is simple division.
| Style | Matcha | Water | Ratio | Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Usucha (thin tea) | 2 g | 60 ml (about 2 fl oz) at 80 °C / 176 °F | 1:30 | Whisk vigorously for 15 seconds |
| Koicha (thick tea) | 4 g | 30 ml (about 1 fl oz) at 80 °C / 176 °F | 1:7.5 | Mix slowly for 15 seconds |
| Cold-whisked usucha | 2 g (1 tsp) | 60 ml ice-chilled water | 1:30 | Whisk for 15 seconds |
| Hot latte | 1.5 level tsp (about 3 g) | 100 ml at 80 °C | 1:33 for the tea base, about 1:67 for the whole drink | Whisk, then add 100 ml warm or foamed milk |
| Iced latte | The same 3 g | 100 ml hot water | — | Pour over 100 ml cold milk and ice |
| Double-strength usucha | 4 g | 120 ml at 80 °C | 1:30 | Same ratio, simply scaled for a bigger cup |
Notice that usucha and koicha use the same water temperature and the same 15-second timing. The difference is concentration. Koicha has four times as much matcha per milliliter, which is why it pours like thin paint instead of foamy tea. If you want the full side-by-side on texture, taste and which powder to buy, read our usucha vs koicha comparison.
Latte numbers get their own page because cup size changes everything there. See the matcha latte ratio chart for 8, 12, 16 and 20 oz drinks, hot and iced.
Why matcha ratios disagree: Ippodo vs Just One Cookbook and others
Search “matcha to water ratio” and you’ll see 60 ml, 70 ml and 80 ml quoted for the same 2 g of powder, with koicha water anywhere from 15 ml to 50 ml. Nobody is exactly wrong. They’re describing different taste targets, and a few pages contradict themselves.
Here is how the published figures compare, each checked against the source page in October 2026:
| Source | Usucha | Koicha | Water Temp | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ippodo (Kyoto tea house) | 2 g / 60 ml (1:30) | 4 g / 30 ml (1:7.5) | 80 °C | — |
| Just One Cookbook | About 2 g / 70 ml (1:35) | 2 tsp / 40 ml | Cooled to about 85 °C / 185 °F | The ingredient list says “boiling water” while the steps say 85 °C. |
| Nio Teas | 2 g / 80 ml for plain matcha (1:40) | — | — | 6 g for an 8 oz cup. The page calls 80 ml “about 1/3 a cup” in one place and “actually a half cup” in its verdict. |
| Sugimoto | 2 g / 70 ml | 4 g / 15 ml (1:3.75) | About 80 °C, both styles | — |
| Breakaway Matcha | About 1 g in 2 to 4 oz of water | About 4 g in barely an ounce | 160 to 175 °F (usucha) | — |
The usucha spread runs from about 1:30 (Ippodo) to 1:40 (Nio), with Breakaway far lighter. In practice that’s the difference between a rich, slightly thick bowl and a lighter, more tea-like cup. Neither is a mistake.
We use Ippodo as the baseline for one reason: it’s the only source in the list that gives grams, milliliters, temperature and timing for both styles on one page, from a producer whose matcha is sold by those exact numbers. When you see a ratio on WhiskMetrics without a note, it’s Ippodo’s.
How much matcha per cup when your mug is bigger
Traditional bowls (chawan) are built around that 60 ml pour. Most American mugs hold 8 to 12 fl oz. So what do you do with a 240 ml mug?
Option one is to keep the ratio. At 1:30, an 8 fl oz cup (about 237 ml) needs about 7.9 g of matcha, which is roughly four level teaspoons. That’s a strong, expensive cup. Nio Teas lands lower, at 6 g for 8 oz (about 1:40).
Option two, and the one we’d pick for a daily mug, is to whisk a normal 2 g / 60 ml bowl first, then top it up with hot water to the size you want. You get a properly dispersed, foamy base and a lighter drink, a bit like an Americano. Your 2 g stays 2 g, which matters at current matcha prices. At 1:30, a 30 g tin makes about 15 traditional bowls but fewer than four full 8 oz mugs.
A quick scaling chart for straight matcha at the Ippodo 1:30 ratio:
| Cup Size | Matcha (g) |
|---|---|
| 60 ml (2 fl oz) | 2 |
| 120 ml (4 fl oz) | 4 |
| 180 ml (6 fl oz) | 6 |
| 240 ml (8 fl oz) | 8 |
Those grams also scale your caffeine. Each gram of matcha contains roughly 18.9 to 44.4 mg of caffeine, according to a 2020 review in Molecules, so an 8 g mug could carry anywhere from about 150 to 355 mg. Our guide to how much caffeine is in matcha breaks that down by serving.
Water temperature and whisking: the other half of the ratio
A perfect ratio still tastes harsh if the water is too hot. Ippodo, Sugimoto and Just One Cookbook all land between 80 and 85 °C (176 to 185 °F). All three cool the water below boiling before it touches the powder (Just One Cookbook’s ingredient list says “boiling water,” but its steps cool it to 85 °C first).
No thermometer? Boil the kettle, pour the water into another cup, then into your bowl. Each transfer drops the temperature a few degrees. The exact numbers and the reasons behind them are in our article on matcha water temperature.
Timing matters less than technique. Usucha gets 15 seconds of fast whisking to raise a fine foam. Koicha gets 15 seconds of slow mixing, with no foam at all. Ippodo also publishes a cold-whisked version: the same 2 g in 60 ml of ice-chilled water, whisked for 15 seconds, which it describes as a “sweet, smooth bowl.”
Adjusting the matcha powder to water ratio to taste
Start at 1:30 and change one variable at a time. Here’s how we’d think about it:
- Too bitter or grassy: drop to 1:35 (2 g in 70 ml), the Just One Cookbook ratio, and check your water isn’t above 80 °C.
- Too thin or watery: go to 2.5 g in 60 ml, or keep 2 g and cut the water to 50 ml.
- Clumpy no matter what: sift the powder before adding water. Ippodo’s instructions start with sifting for a reason.
- Still bitter at every ratio: the powder itself may be the issue. Old or low-grade matcha can taste harsh at any concentration, and no ratio fixes that.
Write down what you change. After three or four bowls you’ll know your own ratio, and you can save it in the matcha ratio calculator to scale it to any cup.