Asahi Matcha — Hand-Picked Single-Cultivar Ceremonial Matcha from Uji, Kyoto

For a traditional bowl (usucha), sift 1–2 grams of matcha into a warm chawan, add about 60–70 ml of hot water (not boiling — around 75–80°C / 165–175°F), and whisk briskly with a chasen in a "W" or "M" motion until a fine layer of foam forms on the surface.

Avoid boiling water. Heat above 85°C extracts excess tannins and dulls the flavor. For best results, let kettle water rest for 60–90 seconds after boiling before pouring.

Ceremonial grade matcha is made from the youngest, most tender first-harvest leaves, stone-milled slowly to preserve aroma and texture. It is intended for drinking on its own, whisked with water, where its full character is on display.

Culinary grade matcha typically uses later harvests and is designed to stand up to other ingredients — milk, sugar, baked goods — where a more robust, slightly bitter profile is desirable.

This is a Platinum ceremonial grade Asahi — among the most refined matcha you can buy, made for koicha and usucha. It is not intended as a culinary or latte matcha.

For best flavor and color, use within 1–2 months after opening, kept refrigerated in the sealed tin.

Matcha is light- and oxygen-sensitive. Once opened, oxidation begins immediately and slowly dulls both the bright green color and the fresh, vegetal aroma. Refrigeration slows this process significantly.

Before opening, an unopened tin stays fresh for around 12 months from the harvest date when stored cool and dark. Each batch carries a best-before date on the packaging.

You can, but we would gently steer you away from it. Asahi's value is in its delicate, refined character, and milk masks exactly what makes it special.

For lattes, an everyday ceremonial or culinary grade gives you the same enjoyment at a fraction of the cost. We carry both, and we're happy to recommend one — Asahi is best whisked plain and savored.

Most commercial matcha is a blend — leaves from multiple cultivars combined to create a consistent house flavor profile year after year. Blending is a craft in its own right, but it averages out the distinctive character of individual cultivars.

Single-cultivar matcha uses leaves from one specific tea variety — in this case, Asahi, the rarest of Japanese cultivars. The resulting flavor is distinctly its own: calm, profound umami with exceptional smoothness and a long, refined finish.

Single-cultivar matcha is less common in Uji because it requires the farm to manage harvests separately rather than combining stocks. With a cultivar as scarce as Asahi, that is rarer still.

A few reasons.

First, the Asahi cultivar is less than 0.3% of Japan's matcha — naturally low-yielding and grown by only a handful of farms.

Second, every leaf is hand-picked during the first spring flush, and the tea is then matured until autumn before milling — slow work that cannot be rushed.

Third, it comes from a single Edo-period family estate in Uji, so the total yield is small.

When a seasonal batch sells through, we wait until the next harvest.

Yes. Matcha contains caffeine — roughly 30–70 mg per gram of powder, depending on the cultivar and harvest. A standard bowl made with 1–2 grams therefore contains somewhere between 30 mg and 140 mg of caffeine.

For comparison, a typical cup of brewed coffee contains around 80–100 mg, and a cup of green tea around 25–30 mg.

Matcha's caffeine is generally experienced differently from coffee's, because matcha also contains L-theanine, an amino acid that promotes a calmer, more sustained kind of alertness. Many people who find coffee jittery find matcha smoother — though sensitivities vary, and we always recommend listening to your own response.