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Matcha (1 tsp powder) before bed: 70 mg of caffeine and how long it lasts
Updated October 5, 2026 · Sources: DozeClock site data · U.S. Department of Agriculture · Foods · Plant Foods for Human Nutrition · U.S. Food and Drug Administration · National Academies Press
Short answer
70 mg
per 8 fl oz (237 ml)
7 h 26 min
until under 25 mg is left
One teaspoon of matcha whisked into a cup is 70 mg in this site's data, about two and a half times a cup of brewed green tea. The model needs 7 h 26 min to take it under 25 mg. Matcha is the whole leaf, so the spoon, not the cup, decides the dose.
General information from population studies (NIH, CDC, NSF, AASM). It is not medical advice and does not replace a clinician who knows you.
Model: remaining = dose × 0.5^(hours ÷ 5). Half-life 5 h (Institute of Medicine 2001); real half-lives run 1.5–9.5 h between people.
After 5 hours about 35 mg of the 70 are left, and after 10 hours about 17. The 25 mg line is crossed at 7 h 26 min. For someone clearing caffeine at the slowest measured pace (a 9.5 hour half-life, Institute of Medicine 2001), about 41 mg would still remain at that same moment, so a mid-afternoon bowl can reach well into the night.
01Last matcha (1 tsp powder) by bedtime
| Bedtime | Finish by (25 mg left) | Left at lights out if finished 6 h before | Left if finished 3 h before |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:00 pm | 1:30 pm | 30 mg | 46 mg |
| 9:30 pm | 2:00 pm | 30 mg | 46 mg |
| 10:00 pm | 2:30 pm | 30 mg | 46 mg |
| 10:30 pm | 3:00 pm | 30 mg | 46 mg |
| 11:00 pm | 3:30 pm | 30 mg | 46 mg |
| 11:30 pm | 4:00 pm | 30 mg | 46 mg |
| 12:00 am | 4:30 pm | 30 mg | 46 mg |
| 12:30 am | 5:00 pm | 30 mg | 46 mg |
| 1:00 am | 5:30 pm | 30 mg | 46 mg |
Finish-by times are rounded down to 5 minutes. 25 mg is this site's planning line, not a clinical threshold. Every drink at once: caffeine cutoff grid.
02Matcha is the whole leaf, so grams of powder set the dose
Brewed tea leaves the leaf in the strainer. Matcha puts it in the cup. USDA lists brewed green tea at 12 mg per 100 g of liquid, which makes a cup about 28 mg, while the powder is drunk, not discarded. That is why 70 mg for a teaspoon sits at two and a half times a brewed cup, and why a teaspoon that is heaped, or made from a stronger powder, can sit well above it.
Powders differ a great deal. A 2024 study in Foods measured caffeine in prepared infusions of eleven green tea powders sold in Poland and reported values from 823.23 to 7313.22 mg/L, nearly nine times between the lowest and the highest, and found that composition depended on harvest time, cultivation method and country of origin. This page does not convert those litre figures to a cup, because the paper does not say how much powder went into a cup. The ratio is the message: two tins can behave nothing alike.
A separate 2023 comparison of fifteen commercial green teas, including ceremonial and culinary matcha, concluded that bagged and gunpowder teas "generally had lower caffeine levels than matcha". So when you swap a bagged green tea for matcha, plan on more caffeine, not the same. The table scales the 70 mg headline linearly from half a teaspoon to two, which assumes the same powder each time.
| Serving or brew | Caffeine | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 tsp matcha in 8 fl oz (headline figure) | 70 (38–88) | Typical figure and range stored in the site data; not re-fetched on 2026-10-05 | DozeClock data |
| ½ tsp matcha in 8 fl oz | 35 (19–44) | Half the 1 tsp figure and range; assumes the same powder | DozeClock data |
| 2 tsp matcha in 8 fl oz, a strong latte | 140 (76–176) | Twice the 1 tsp figure and range; assumes the same powder | DozeClock data |
| 8 fl oz brewed green tea, for comparison | 28 (19–43) | 12 mg per 100 g, measured range 8–18, 6 data points; multiplied by 237 g | USDA FDC 171917 |
| 12 fl oz green tea, for comparison | 37 | FDA consumer update, per 12 fl oz serving | FDA |
| Eleven matcha powders, prepared infusions | about 8.9 times | Highest 7313.22 over lowest 823.23 mg/L in the study; ratio calculated by DozeClock | Foods 2024 |
The 35 and 140 mg rows are calculated by DozeClock by scaling the stored 1 tsp figure; they are not measured values. The ratio row is calculated from two concentrations printed in the study abstract, in the units the authors used.
03Matcha (1 tsp powder) next to the three nearest drinks
| Drink | Serving | mg | Hours to under 25 mg | Finish by for an 11 pm bed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy drink | 8 fl oz (237 ml) | 72 | 7 h 38 min | 3:20 pm |
| Matcha (1 tsp powder) | 8 fl oz (237 ml) | 70 | 7 h 26 min | 3:30 pm |
| Espresso | 1 fl oz (30 ml) shot | 64 | 6 h 47 min | 4:10 pm |
| Instant coffee | 8 fl oz (237 ml) | 62 | 6 h 33 min | 4:25 pm |
mg per serving, not per ounce: servings differ in size · nearest = smallest difference in mg per serving (data/caffeine.json)
The energy drink in the data is 72 mg and matcha is 70, two apart per serving, but the ranges tell a different story: matcha spans 38 to 88 mg, the energy drink 40 to 250. Espresso is 64 mg in a single 1 fl oz shot, so a double shot at about 128 mg lands above one teaspoon of matcha and below two. Instant coffee at 62 mg is the closest coffee.
Sources
- DozeClock caffeine data: matcha, 1 tsp powder in 8 fl oz (typical figure and range) — DozeClock site data (not re-fetched on 2026-10-05; no matcha entry found in USDA SR Legacy or Foundation Foods)
- FoodData Central: Beverages, tea, green, brewed, regular (SR Legacy, FDC ID 171917) — U.S. Department of Agriculture
- Exploring the Influence of Origin, Harvest Time, and Cultivation Method on Antioxidant Capacity and Bioactive Compounds of Matcha Teas — Foods (Basel), 2024
- Catechin Composition, Phenolic Content, and Antioxidant Properties of Commercially-Available Bagged, Gunpowder, and Matcha Green Teas — Plant Foods for Human Nutrition, 2023
- Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine is Too Much? — U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- Caffeine for the Sustainment of Mental Task Performance: Formulations for Military Operations — National Academies Press, 2001
General information from population studies (NIH, CDC, NSF, AASM). It is not medical advice and does not replace a clinician who knows you.