This premium matcha is made using only the first flush of the “Yabukita” cultivar. As spring arrives, only the tender new buds are carefully handpicked. To bring out their full umami and aroma, the tea bushes are shaded with covers for about 20 days before harvest. Blocking the sunlight allows the leaves to develop a vibrant green color and high levels of theanine, resulting in their signature mellow flavor.

Once picked, the leaves are steamed and dried without rolling, becoming tencha — the raw material for matcha. For the drying process, a rare brick furnace is used, a method seldom seen today. Instead of direct flame, gentle far-infrared heat slowly dries the leaves, preserving their structure and enhancing the depth and richness of their aroma.

The finished tencha is then slowly ground into a lustrous green powder using traditional stone mills.