First-harvest leaves from the shaded hills of Uji, ground slow on granite mills the way it has been done for four centuries. No shortcuts. No bitterness. Just a bowl of quiet, vivid green.
Three weeks before picking, our rows are covered with straw and reed. Starved of full sun, the leaf floods itself with chlorophyll and L-theanine — the source of matcha's deep colour and its long, calm focus. Only the youngest top leaves are taken, by hand, at first harvest.
Dried tencha meets a pair of hand-cut granite wheels turning slowly enough that the powder never warms. Heat is the enemy of matcha; friction would scorch the aroma and dull the green. One stone mill yields just forty grams an hour — roughly one bowl per minute of a wheel's patient turning.
Sieve, then a few teaspoons of water just off the boil. Forty quick strokes of a bamboo chasen in the shape of an M, never a circle, until a fine jade foam rises and holds. The first sip is bright and grassy; the finish is sweet, with no trace of bitterness. That is the whole point.
Every grade we sell is ceremonial-first — graded by cup, not by colour alone. Choose by ritual: the daily bowl, the guest bowl, the keepsake.
Our flagship first-harvest. Vivid, sweet, near-zero astringency — the bowl we built the house on.
A small single-field lot we keep for guests. Deep umami, a long sweet finish, whisked thin or thick.
The everyday tin — same first-harvest leaf, sized for a bowl each morning. Bright, generous, honest.
Everything for the first bowl: a glazed chawan, a 80-prong chasen, a scoop, and a tin of Asahi.
Press 2g (about two bamboo scoops) of Matsu through a fine sieve into a warmed, dry bowl. This is what keeps the foam clump-free.
Water just off the boil, never rolling. Too hot and the matcha turns bitter; 80°C keeps the sweetness whole.
Hold the chasen lightly and brush briskly front-to-back — an M, not a circle — for about fifteen seconds until a fine jade foam lifts.
Lift with both hands, turn the bowl a quarter, and drink while the foam still holds. Matcha waits for no one — that is half its charm.
We don't sell powder. We sell five quiet minutes you'll defend.— Rina Matsuda, founder & third-generation grower
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Free shipping over $60 · Stone-milled to order · 100% leaf, nothing else.