Uji, Kyoto — Japan
Shade-grown and stone-milled in the birthplace of matcha.
The land
Uji, just south of Kyoto, is the spiritual home of Japanese tea — the region has perfected matcha for roughly 800 years, since Zen monks first brought the practice from China. Its mild, misty river-valley climate and centuries of accumulated craft are why 'Uji matcha' is the benchmark the rest of the world is measured against. Our matcha is grown here from prized cultivars like Samidori and Okumidori, prized for their natural sweetness and vivid color.
Shade-grown & stone-milled
For the final 20–30 days before harvest, the tea plants are covered to block most sunlight (a technique called kabuse). Starved of light, the leaf floods with chlorophyll and L-theanine — the source of matcha's electric green color, its umami, and its signature calm-focus. Only the youngest, softest first-flush leaves are hand-selected, then steamed, dried, and de-veined into tencha. That tencha is finally ground between slow-turning granite stone mills — a single mill produces only about 30–40 grams an hour — into an ultra-fine, talc-soft powder that whisks up smooth and lump-free.