FAQ

Matcha is Japanese green tea where you drink the leaf itself, finely ground and whisked into water. Black tea, green tea and matcha all come from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. The difference is in the processing.

Ceremonial matcha comes from the first harvest in May, from shaded gardens, and is milled from the youngest leaves. It tastes sweet and deep green and is meant for drinking pure, not for baking.

A single cultivar is matcha from one bred variety and tastes distinctive. A blend is composed by the tea master from several varieties so that it tastes round and consistent over the years. Neither is better. MATCHA, KYOTO is single cultivar Okumidori, MATCHA, YAME and MATCHA, KIRISHIMA are blends.

One bowl of matcha is roughly one espresso and well below a cup of filter coffee. The difference is L-theanine: it slows the absorption of caffeine and stretches the effect over four to six hours. No spike, no crash.

Tencha, the base of matcha, cannot be scaled at will. A shaded garden takes years, and the stone mill yields only thirty to forty grams of powder per hour. A single 40-gram tin is a good hour of milling time.

From verified Japanese origins, including Uji near Kyoto and Kagoshima in the south. It is selected and packed in Basel.

Sift two grams into the bowl, add seventy millilitres of water at seventy to eighty degrees, then whisk with the chasen for fifteen to twenty seconds. Sifting is the step everyone skips and the one that prevents every lump.

Almost always the water is too hot. Boiling water releases the catechins that taste bitter. Seventy to eighty degrees is the goal. Without a temperature kettle: boil and let stand for five minutes.

For the bowl, yes. No kitchen whisk or milk frother replaces the eighty fine bamboo prongs. For iced matcha a bottle is enough: shake two grams of matcha with cold water and refrigerate overnight.

Rinse with clear water after every use, never with detergent, and place it wet on the holder. With daily use the whisk lasts about a year, without a holder closer to three months.

Two ways: whisk two to three grams with a little hot water into a concentrate and pour over ice, or shake two grams with three hundred millilitres of cold water in a bottle and chill overnight. The cold method is milder and almost free of bitterness.

Cool, dark and airtight. Light is the fastest enemy, UV bleaches the chlorophyll in days. The opened tin belongs in a cool, dark cupboard, well sealed.

Unopened, yes. Opened only with one rule: the cold tin must come to room temperature closed before you open it. Otherwise condensation settles on the powder, and damp matcha clumps and spoils.

Unopened, cool and dark up to twelve months. Opened and well sealed four to six weeks, after that it turns noticeably flat. That is why our tins hold 40 grams, roughly three weeks at one bowl a day, exactly the window in which matcha tastes as it should.

To Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Delivery takes two to four working days.

Orders above CHF 60.00 ship free, below that CHF 7.00. All prices include VAT.

Yes, unopened goods within fourteen days of receipt. Refunds are issued within ten working days of the return arriving.

MATCHA, KYOTO is available by subscription at CHF 33.00 instead of CHF 39.00. Delivery follows the chosen rhythm, and the subscription can be cancelled at any time.