In Vietnam, known as the world’s top coffee exporter, the cup that young people reach for has been quietly changing over the past few years. It is matcha, the green powder whisked with a chasen. In Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Da Nang, cafés that put matcha center stage have sprung up one after another, and Nagocha Matcha, with a shop in Landmark 81, has become known as part of that wave. Why matcha, why now, in a country of coffee? And among the many matcha cafés, what kind of place is Nagocha choosing to be? Let’s read into it from the background that the directory page couldn’t fully cover.
Why matcha spread in a country of coffee
Matcha’s popularity is not a Vietnam-only phenomenon. Japan’s green-tea exports grew to a record high in 2024, and the market including matcha is expanding on a global scale. Behind it are the spread of social media and the rise in travel to Japan, helped along by the weak yen. Travelers who visited Japan take home matcha sweets and tea-ceremony experiences, then search for the same taste back in their own countries. That chain has pushed up demand in country after country.
The reason this trend came on strong in Vietnam is probably that it fit well with the café culture of the younger generation. Vietnam already has a deep-rooted habit of enjoying drinks outdoors, from street-side cafés to high-rise chains. Add to that the photogenic, vivid green and the novelty of the whisking ritual. Matcha lattes, of course, but also a distinctly Vietnamese way of pairing it with coconut juice became a talking point among Gen Z and spread rapidly via social media. Purchases of matcha-related products have grown on e-commerce too, becoming something people in their 20s and 30s buy online as a matter of course.
Coffee and matcha are not at odds; it is closer to reality to see it as one more option added. Cà phê sữa in the morning, a matcha latte in the afternoon—people drink the two differently by time of day or mood. For young Vietnamese, matcha has shifted from an exotic imported drink to an option woven into everyday life.
Nagocha’s stance in choosing the “Japanese style”
As matcha cafés multiply, what’s inside diverges from shop to shop. Some serve it easily with syrup or powder, while others are particular about the leaf’s origin and the way it is whisked. Nagocha plants its foot in the latter. What sets it apart is its flow: the customer chooses the matcha brand, origin, and strength, and the staff whisk each cup on the spot. Rather than deciding a menu and serving it, the drinker puts their own preferences into words as they choose. This very design of the experience is conscious of the manners of a Japanese teahouse.
The single point of “whisking it before your eyes” directly reflects the nature of matcha as a drink. Because matcha grinds tea leaves into powder and mixes it with hot water, the flavor tends to fade once time passes after whisking. Since it is hard to make ahead, a shop that whisks after taking the order can serve a cup closer to matcha’s original state. That Nagocha does not skip this effort is an expression of its stance of treating matcha not as “one kind of drink” but as “something to whisk and savor.”
Setting up tatami seating in the shop and creating a Japanese-style space sits in the same context. For young Vietnamese, a Japanese-style teahouse is something to experience for its atmosphere as well as its taste. Watching the whisking motions and spending time in a Japanese space shapes the value of a single cup.
What Japanese-grown tea leaves carry
That Nagocha handles tea leaves from Japanese production areas such as Uji and Kagoshima is significant for understanding where it stands. The raw material for matcha is a leaf called “tencha,” grown under shade. Blocking sunlight during cultivation softens the leaves and brings out sweetness and umami. These are dried and slowly ground in a stone mill into a fine powder. Because they go through such labor-intensive steps, the range of flavor by origin and grade is wide.
Even within Japan, character differs by production area. Lining up two representative ones makes the contours easier to grasp.
| Growing regions | Background | Flavor tendencies |
|---|---|---|
| Uji (Kyoto) | A production area that has made tencha since long ago and built up cultivation and processing techniques. Many hand-picked premium grades | Refined sweetness and aroma come through readily |
| Kagoshima | Production making use of the warm climate has grown shipment volumes, and it has become known as a source of matcha raw material as well | A clean, crisp finish is easy to obtain |
Even within Japanese-grown tea, Uji and Kagoshima differ in both growing environment and history. That is exactly why being able to choose the origin gains meaning. A shop like Nagocha that handles multiple origins and lets customers choose and have it whisked also becomes a place to taste these differences side by side.
What “Japanese style” means as Vietnamese-grown matcha increases
While matcha demand grows worldwide, supply of the raw material in Japan has not kept up. With production also affected by extreme heat, output is rising but not enough to meet the growth in demand, and prices are climbing. As if to fill this gap, tea-leaf production for matcha has begun in Vietnam, Thailand, Kenya, and elsewhere. Within Vietnam, capital investment and technology adoption are advancing in tea-growing areas such as Lam Dong Province and Bao Loc, and local brands armed with affordable prices and stable supply are on the rise.
Such moves have meaning in widening the base of the matcha market. If more affordable matcha-style drinks appear, it becomes an entry point where first-timers can try it casually. For people who enjoy it daily at cafés, more options is something to welcome.
On top of that, shops that source Japanese-grown leaves directly and whisk each cup play a separate role. The character of each origin, the labor-intensive methods like tencha and stone-mill grinding, and the experience of savoring it freshly whisked—these are parts that are hard to replace with price alone. The more Vietnamese-grown matcha circulates widely, the more sharply the position of “the authentic Japanese style” comes into focus. Nagocha, precisely now that matcha has gone from a rarity to something close to everyday, is a shop that finds meaning in being particular about origin and the way it is whisked.
One rough guide to how to enjoy it
If you are trying authentic matcha for the first time, start at a shop where you can choose the origin and strength, and tell the staff your preference. Do you like a sweet finish, or a clean aftertaste? Even that alone changes the cup they suggest. Drinking freshly whisked matcha while the aroma is still up makes the differences in flavor easier to tell.
The more accustomed you are to matcha lattes and arranged drinks, the more trying matcha whisked from leaves alone, even once, helps you notice the differences by origin. Once you get used to it, order a different origin at the same shop and compare. A Japanese-style matcha café is also a place to find your own preference little by little that way.
The flow of matcha spreading in a country of coffee is still going. As Vietnamese-grown varieties increase and both price ranges and the breadth of experience diversify, shops that whisk Japanese-grown leaves carry the role of conveying the depth of matcha as a drink. If you visit Nagocha, rather than locking in your order from the menu, enjoy the very time of choosing an origin and having it whisked for you.
🗺️ For Nagocha Matcha’s basic information, signature menu, map, and reviews, seeShop guide (card)where we've put it all together.
🗺️ If you also want to compare it with other cafés,Vietnam's 30 Popular Cafés: A Thorough Comparison Guidelets you browse from a single list.
