Is it truly Organically grown?
Our Organic green matcha tea is certified by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of Japan. Grown with only natural organic fertilizers and no agricultural chemicals or pesticides, our organic green tea has a simple and traditional flavor. This is the first determination of quality.

Amount of Sun Shading and first crop.
The highest grades of Tea plantation have their plants covered to shade them from the sun in three different levels of shading in the last weeks of the growing season with Only the nutrient-rich youngest leaves being picked from the tips for the highest grades. This shading causes a tremendous increase in chlorophyll production in the new leaf growth of these plants, which are selected for harvest. Such high levels of chlorophyll in Matcha Green Tea gives this tea its beautiful vibrant green color and makes it sweeter to taste. Chlorophyll binds with toxic metals to hamper absorption, and research has shown it can do the same with some carcinogens also. This makes Matcha a powerful detoxifier capable of naturally removing heavy metals and chemical toxins.

How is it Milled
Matcha Tea is milled in 3 separate degrees of milling quality. The highest quality ceremonial grades of Matcha tea are milled by a granite stone mill which does not overheat and destroy nutrients in the leaf. This is the slowest milling and achieves the finest powder at around 10 micron. The next levels of quality are milled with ceramics and the lowest quality and overall bulk of production is milled in fast metal milling machines, which only achieve around 20 Microns.

Quality Control Factors
Location of the plantation affects the crop to some extent as different soils and conditions effect the results to a small degree, similar to wines. Blending of the leaf from different crops is important to achieve consistency. The level of stem left in the product and storage of the product before and after milling are also important quality control issues.

How to choose high quality Matcha Tea
The easiest way to differentiate Matcha products is that the premium ceremonial grades with the most nutrients are a very bright colour, a very fine powder and a sweeter taste, whereas the lower grades are progressively more lighter in colour, more coarsely milled and less sweet.