Being lovers of green tea, we naturally became enthusiastic about matcha and the incredible health benefits in that green tea powder! At first we were buying matcha from our local bulk health food store – the type that sells organic grains, seeds and nuts in big tubs for people like us that eat that stuff all the time.
A good friend came back from a holiday in Japan with a special gift of matcha from a little tea shop in Kyoto. When we opened that up, we were dazzled by the vibrant, bright green colour of the matcha powder, and the aroma! Just like fresh green leaves. It made our usual matcha look very dull!
The drinking of it was another experience altogether. We were used to a certain bitterness and graininess, but this vibrant matcha powder was rich, full-bodied and smooth with a real “green shoots” umami flavour.
So, that was it. Our old matcha was going into smoothies from now on and we were on a search for the best matcha we could find.
We started to research where matcha was produced, how it is made, everything we could find out. And also where could we buy the real thing?
The answer to that question was “nowhere”. We realised that most of the branded matcha was purchased in bulk, shipped, repackaged and rebranded before it even made it to the consumer. How long did all that take? And what was the quality of the original product? Did it come from China or Japan or where?
We found out that Japan, and specifically Kyoto prefecture, is totally famous for the incredible quality of the matcha grown there. Grown by the myriads of tiny farms that have been in families for generations. But we couldn’t find any easy way to buy it, and 97% of it never leaves Japan, so how could we get it?
Buying matcha from Japan was a near-impossible task as almost all of it stays in Japan.
Through trial and error, we finally found a way. And then, after a while, The Merchant of Matcha was born.
Now we are able to operate with Japanese based tea merchants who source and manage our products from the farm to your matcha bowl.
We don’t sell “standard” matcha. Our matcha green tea powder would have to be the finest quality you can buy, and you can be sure it has been cultivated and crafted with love.