Dunkin Matcha vs Starbucks Matcha vs RW Golden Matcha

Matcha has exploded in popularity over the last 25 years. While its origins run deep, spreading over more than one thousand years from China to Japan, matcha seems to be here for the long haul. What that means is the same for any product – Mega corporations (like Dunkin and Starbucks) catch on and start to offer their own version. The problem is that “their own version” is usually built on corporatism and taste. The real focus should be and maximizing benefit for the customer. 

The way corporations, especially publicly traded corporations, work is at the root of the problem. They determine the highest amount of money they can charge before the customers will decide not to buy from them. This helps them maximize profits, which is a requirement for shareholders. Because their goal is to maximize profits, they have to find ways to cut costs. This coincides with doing what they believe “doesn’t impact the customer experience.” The problem there is that it often does impact the customer experience. That is how we find ourselves in this current predicament. We are going to take a look at the differences between the matcha found in Dunkin and Starbucks. Then we will compare it to the matcha we carry here at RW Golden.

Dunkin Matcha or the “Dunkin Green Drink”

Dunkin has played a huge role in the popularity of matcha over the lat 5 years. With nearly 10,000 Dunkin locations nationwide, and another roughly 3,200 internationally, having matcha added to their menu inevitably increased the exposure for the product. While many people might say that adding matcha to the menu was a good thing, the challenge begins when you looks into it one step further. 

In 2022, Reddit user _Anime_Gamer_ shared with the reddit matcha community a picture of the matcha that Dunkin uses. The post shows Aiya brand “Sweetened Matcha Blend”. The packaging itself says “Premium Japanese Green Tea since 1888. While all the words and the branding look up to par, we understand the real troubling truth of this product. This is a 1) sweetened product and 2) blended product. Why does that matter? I’m glad you asked.

Dunkin Matcha Challenges

The history behind matcha and the real benefit of matcha is found in its purity and quality. The EGCG that creates the relaxed and calming effect is most potent in higher qualities of matcha. One of the biggest reasons matcha has grown so much in popularity was that it is a healthy coffee alternative, while still having a delightful taste.  Having a sweetened matcha product you know right off the bat it won’t be healthy. This is filled with artificial sweeteners that overpower the natural umami flavor, creating a synthetic matcha experience. To make it worse, people will add additional sweeteners to their drinks. This creates a sugar filled “treat” that completely destroys almost any and all potential health benefits.

The second challenge is the blended product. Historically, in the coffee realm, to qualify a product as a “blend” you need just 5% of the overall product to be comprised of the product you are claiming the naming rights too. In this case, to claim as a matcha blend, it would need just 5% of the overall product composition. This is not to say that the blend is exactly 5%. Simply put, that that is all that is needed to make that claim. 

Knowing those two things, this puts us in a position of understanding. We have a product that is potentially just 5% true matcha, while the rest could be sugars and/ or artificial sweeteners. While this makes it “easier” or “faster” for Dunkin to make their matcha drinks, there is essentially no health benefit from the matcha. Also, its is nearly a perception of quality made to tap into your desire for refined sugars. Marketing and sugar tell you it taste good, versus actually being good for you.

Starbucks Matcha or “Matcha Tea Latte Starbucks”

Starbucks has played a similar role in increasing the popularity of matcha over the last half decade. Even recently they have started to run commercials and advertisements on their new “sweetness levels” for matcha. There are similar issues between Starbucks matcha and Dunkin Matcha, but they should be viewed through a different light.

The first problem with Starbucks matcha is the origin of the believed product. While we can’t prove the origin or production process Starbucks products use, through out research we are lead to believe that the presumed matcha Starbucks uses is actually Sencha, a non-shade-grown versions of matcha. Sencha, because it is not shade grown, often has a lower chlorophyll content, is known for having a more natural, bitter taste and dull green color. What does that mean? You guessed it! We have to add extra artificial sweeteners AND artificial coloring to give the perception of quality. While this isn’t uncommon and numerous matcha brands do this, it means that what you believe is in your cup, may not actually be in your cup at all. Its not lying, but truth by omission.

Starbucks Matcha in the United States always come pre-sweetened. There isn’t even an option to get a non-sweetened matcha. If you visit our friends up north (Canada), you can get an unsweetened option, but it simply can’t be found in the United States Starbucks locations. When you looks at the label closely of the product, this truth becomes that much more evident.

Starbucks Nutrition Labels

The way nutrition labels read is in order of percentage of contents within the product. For example if the largest composition of a single ingredient was sugar, then sugar would be first, followed by whatever is second. The tricky thing about this is that the true amount or percentage is often times left unknown as “trade secrets”. As expected, when you look at the label for the USA version of Starbucks Matcha, the first ingredient is sugar. Knowing what we do about the “blend” terminology that means that we could expect the sugar content to be anywhere between 51% and 94.9% of the overall product. 

This understanding is what makes the new promotion of “choose your sweetness level” even scarier. The scary part is that the sweetness level you choose is IN ADDITION TO to the presweetened product they use within their matcha drinks. Starbucks website nutrition facts show that their Grande (16 fl oz) matcha has 29 grams of sugar, 31 grams of carbs, and 4g of saturated fats.  These numbers are incredible when you compare them to other common high sugar content treats. Two regular size Reeces peanut butter cups has 22g of sugar, a milky way has 35g of sugar, and a soda has approximately 48g of sugar.

Starbucks Breakfast Dessert

In 2023, A Starbucks supervisor added to this saying that these numbers are only with 3 scoops of their matcha. Many matcha drinkers will add additional scoops of matcha, or even additional sweeteners. You can see how that quickly adds up to multiple candy bars worth of sugar as a “healthy breakfast drink”. The problem often falls back on the corporations for truth by omission, because they know people believe its healthier and play into their beliefs with fancy marketing that leads people to feel like they’re making the healthier choice while actually cause serious harm to their bodies. Thankfully, not all matcha is created equally.

RW Golden Matcha or RW Golden Matcha Latte

High quality matcha is a thing of beauty. From the growing process, to the product style and beyond, the experience one could have is unlike anything you’d find at a big box retailer. To achieve a product that is high quality there are numerous factors that come into play. Growing season, growing process, harvesting timing, product methods, time from production to air-tight seal, etc. When starting RW Golden we conducted an in depth study that led us to understand that matcha was growing in popularity based on the perceived health benefits, but not because of the true benefits. What exactly does that mean though?

We came to understand that people go into various coffee shops, or by different matcha for at home use based on the belief it would be healthy. Coffee shops often just have a sign that says “matcha” and nothing more. As a result of that, consumers don’t know if they are getting culinary- grade, premium-grade or ceremonial-grade matcha. That often leads them to adding additional sugars into their drinks to create a drink they can tolerate.

We understood the healthy benefits that were being eviscerated using all these sugars and looked for a way to gets those back. We worked through various different manufacturers across Asia, carefully testing the products for toxic, heavy metals and true purity. What we discovered was that it requires a very rigorous process to create a true high quality matcha powder. While that is not shocking to many, the shocking part is that it doesn’t have to cost an insane amount of money once the process is created. There is an initial upfront cost, but that cost is what created the amazing, 100% pure ceremonial grade matcha that we offer today.

RW Golden Ceremonial Matcha

RW golden is proud to offer 100% Ceremonial-Grade, USDA Certified Organic matcha. This means that you can expect a natural umami flavor while also experiencing the vibrant green coloring in every cup. The promised benefited of high quality matcha is found infused in every aspect of the product. Don’t just take our word for it, take the word of the coffee shops who did a side by side comparison. They’ve all begun using RW Golden matcha for their customers. 

Not only do we have the quality product you should expect, but we also have the resources to ensure you can fall in love with matcha all over again. 

Whether you are using matcha at home or in a commercial setting, knowing that you can rely on quality matters. That is exactly what we at RW Golden aim to do alongside you. Our mantra is Quality Delivered Consistently. That is what we will continue to offer you in ever scoop of our matcha.

For at home use, checkout out various product offerings here.

For wholesale pricing, send us a message and we’d be happy to help you get started.