Every November, Japan celebrates a special tea tradition called Kuchikiri. During this centuries-old ceremony, ceramic jars containing tencha tea leaves from the spring harvest are opened at the shrine for the first time. The tencha has spent the summer and early autumn resting and maturing. After the kuchikiri this tencha is ritually milled. This moment traditionally marks the beginning of the new matcha season.
Unlike sencha, which is at its best when freshly harvested, matcha needs time to fully develop its flavour. The tencha leaves used to make matcha are harvested in April and May. Immediately after harvesting, they often taste a little sharp, grassy and flat. By allowing the leaves to mature for several months in cold storage, they develop the smooth, rounded flavour, natural sweetness and deep umami that good matcha is known for.
So you might be wondering why we are still offering matcha from the 2025 harvest when the first matcha from 2026 is already available.
The answer is simple: it's the tencha that matures, not the matcha powder. Our matcha is freshly ground shortly before being shipped from Japan. The harvest year therefore tells you when the leaves were picked, not how fresh the powder is.
Although matcha from the new harvest is already on the market, we consciously choose to wait a little longer. Some tencha is even left to mature for several years. To us, it's more important that our matcha has had the time to fully develop its flavour than to be the first to offer the newest harvest.
Discover how Japanese tradition brings out the best in matcha.
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