Matcha and Japanese ceramics share a common root: both are shaped by terroir — the soil, climate, and craft of a specific place. In the tea ceremony, the bowl is considered as important as the tea itself, because the texture and form of the vessel directly affect how the matcha tastes, feels, and looks in the hand.

Matcha is shaped by terroir: the minerals in the soil, the mountain mist, the rhythm of the seasons. Japanese ceramics are no different. The iron in the clay, the ash from the kiln fire, the temperature of the earth — all leave their mark on the vessel. Tea and bowl are both, at their core, expressions of the land they come from.

When Sen no Rikyū elevated the tea ceremony in the 16th century, he insisted that the bowl was as important as the tea itself. The way it sat in the hands, the texture against the lips, the colour the green foam took against the clay — all of it was considered. A rough-surfaced, hand-formed bowl creates more friction for the whisk, producing a finer foam. Dense, unglazed stoneware holds heat slowly, keeping the matcha warm and its aroma alive. The vessel is not background. It is part of the cup.

"First Raku, second Hagi, third Karatsu" — the classic ranking of tea bowls reflects how deeply ceramics and matcha are intertwined in Japanese aesthetic tradition.

The bowl is not background: its glaze, weight and curve shape how the matcha reads in the hand and on the palate.

 to our lineup. Grown in mineral-rich soils along Japan's Pacific coast, Aichi matcha offers a clean, balanced profile — smooth umami, gentle sweetness, and a versatility that suits both ceremonial preparation and high-quality café use. It is a tea that speaks quietly, with confidence.

Tokoname-yaki — Ancient Clay, New Partnership

 (常滑焼) — one of Japan's Six Ancient Kilns, with a history spanning over a thousand years. Famous for its iron-rich red clay and the celebrated 

 teapot, Tokoname pottery is prized for its density, durability, and subtle interaction with tea. The unglazed clay is said to mellow the astringency of the brew over time, the vessel gradually becoming a collaborator in the cup.

We are honoured to have formed a partnership with a Tokoname kiln rooted in this living tradition. Through this collaboration, we now offer a curated selection of Tokoname-yaki ceramics — matcha bowls, teapots, and tableware — chosen specifically for their relationship to the preparation and enjoyment of tea.

Aichi Prefecture matcha and handcrafted Tokoname-yaki ceramics — sourced from the same soil, brought together for the first time. Please reach out to our team for wholesale and pairing inquiries.

What moves us most about this new chapter is simple: our matcha and our ceramic partners share the same earth. To prepare Aichi tea in a Tokoname bowl is to complete a circle the land itself began.

Interested in pairing our matcha with handcrafted Tokoname ceramics?

Request a sample or get in touch with our team

Matcha and Ceramics: The Bond Between Tea and Bowls

Selecting the right matcha involves understanding various factors including origin, processing methods, and harvest timing. At Rikyu Matcha Company, we help you find the perfect matcha for your business needs and applications.

Japan's major matcha-producing regions each offer distinctive flavor profiles:

In the global market, matcha is categorized as "Ceremonial," "Premium," "Culinary," or "Baking Grade." It's important to understand that 

these classifications indicate intended use, not quality hierarchy

Rikyu Matcha Company recommends specific matcha profiles based on your product applications.

: Low bitterness with strong umami, light body

Flavored Matcha Latte (Vanilla, Caramel, etc.)

: Balanced bitterness and umami, full body

To enhance your brand value, we can also propose matcha with compelling narratives:

Rikyu Matcha Company is more than a matcha supplier. As your business partner, we provide:

"I'm not sure which matcha suits my business" "I'm looking for matcha that matches my brand image" "I want to develop a new matcha product"

Whatever your needs, please don't hesitate to reach out. Our experienced bilingual Japanese team is ready to support your business success.

Finding the Perfect Matcha for Your Business

Rikyu Matcha sources directly from a tea producer in Satsuma, Minami-Kyushu City, in Kagoshima — Japan's southernmost major tea region, where the first flush is harvested earlier than anywhere else in the country. This field visit shows how that direct-from-source relationship shapes the freshness, quality, and traceability of our matcha.

In Japan, spring doesn't arrive all at once. It moves — slowly, deliberately — from south to north. And so does matcha harvest season.

Kagoshima, Japan's southernmost major tea-growing region, is always first. While the rest of the country is still waiting for warmer days, the tea fields of Satsuma are already alive with the year's first flush of new growth. Our team at Rikyu Matcha recently made the journey down to witness it firsthand.

A view of the tea plantations with Mount Kaimon in the background.

Built on Direct Relationships, Across Every Major Region

One of the defining features of Rikyu Matcha is that we have producer partners in every major tea-growing region in Japan — from Uji and Nishio to Kagoshima. And in every case, those relationships are 

We don't buy through brokers. We visit the farms. We sit with the producers, walk the fields, and ask the questions that matter: 

What drives your decisions? What are you protecting? What does quality mean to you?

This approach means that when we talk about the matcha we source, we're not reciting spec sheets. We're sharing the 

 That's what we bring to our partners around the world — not just a product, but a story grounded in real knowledge and real trust.

Japan's matcha harvest begins as early as 

 in Kagoshima, making it the first region in the country to yield new leaves each year. From there, harvest progresses northward over the following months, region by region.

When we arrived in Satsuma, Minami-Kyushu City, the fields were already preparing for the season ahead. But what struck us most wasn't the landscape — it was the level of intentionality behind everything we saw.

Fresh tea buds are sprouting; these small, yellowish-green shoots will eventually grow and be processed into matcha.

Timing is everything in matcha production. Leave the new shoots on the plant too long, and the leaves toughen. Tougher leaves mean a compromised flavor profile — less of the bright umami and vibrant green that define premium matcha.

To manage this, our producer partner in Satsuma has developed a remarkably deliberate approach: 

over 20 different cultivars are planted across the farm

, each selected for its distinct growth rate. By staggering varieties that mature at different speeds, the harvest window is carefully distributed across weeks rather than compressed into a single overwhelming rush.

This isn't just a practical workaround — it's a form of agricultural craftsmanship. The farm functions like a finely tuned schedule, with one variety reaching peak readiness just as another finishes. It's the kind of system that only emerges from decades of observation, iteration, and deep respect for the plant.

From Field to Steam: Within 15 to 30 Minutes

Once tea leaves are picked, the clock starts immediately. Oxidation begins the moment a leaf is separated from the plant, and it's the first processing step — 

 — that halts that process and locks in color, aroma, and nutritional value.

This is made possible by two things working in tandem: the physical proximity of the fields to the processing facility, and a harvest schedule that's synchronized precisely with the factory's capacity. There's no waiting. No backlog. The leaves move from the field to the steamer while they're still at their best.

Standing in that facility, watching the process unfold in real time, it became clear why this commitment matters. The first 30 minutes of a tea leaf's journey after harvest shapes everything that follows — every cup, every shot of espresso, every matcha latte served thousands of miles away.

There is no shortage of matcha brokers and dealers in the global market. But there's a meaningful difference between sourcing matcha and 

 it — between moving product and representing the people who produced it.

At Rikyu Matcha, we exist to be a direct bridge between Japanese producers and the global businesses and enthusiasts who want to serve something genuinely exceptional. The fields of Satsuma, the precision of the harvest design, the steam rising from the factory floor — all of it travels with every order we send out.

That's not a marketing claim. It's the result of showing up, year after year, and building relationships that go deeper than a transaction.

Whether you run a specialty café, a restaurant, a food brand, or a retail concept — if you're looking for matcha that comes with real provenance and real producer knowledge behind it, we'd love to talk.

Written by Mizuki Yasuda, CEO of Rikyu Matcha

Field visit: Satsuma, Minami-Kyushu City, Kagoshima, Japan — Spring 2026

Visiting Our Satsuma Tea Producer in Kagoshima, Japan

Hojicha is a roasted Japanese green tea, and Rikyu Hojicha is a stone-milled hojicha powder made from the same producer relationships as our matcha. Unlike matcha, hojicha is roasted rather than shade-grown, giving it a naturally low-caffeine, amber-colored cup with toasty, caramel notes — ideal for lattes and after-hours service.

We built Rikyu Matcha around one conviction: that the best powdered Japanese tea deserved the same sourcing discipline as the best single-origin coffee. That conviction hasn't changed. But our lineup just expanded.

Starting this season, Rikyu Matcha is offering 

 alongside our matcha range. Same sourcing philosophy. Same direct producer relationships. A completely different ingredient.

Hojicha begins as green tea — the same plant, the same fields. But where matcha is defined by everything we do to 

 the leaf from heat and light, hojicha is defined by 

. The leaves and stems are roasted over high heat, typically in a porcelain pot over charcoal, until the chlorophyll breaks down and a new category of flavor emerges entirely.

The result is amber-colored, low in caffeine, and rich with roasted, caramel-sweet complexity. It tastes nothing like matcha. That's the point.

"If matcha is the dawn — clean, alive, electric — then hojicha is dusk. Slow heat. Long finish. The kind of cup that asks you to sit down."

In Japan, hojicha has been part of everyday tea culture for generations. It's the cup that appears after dinner, at the end of a long day, in the hands of someone who wants warmth without wakefulness. Outside Japan, it remains one of the most underrepresented flavors in specialty beverage — and one of the most immediately compelling once people taste it.

How It Differs from Matcha — Structurally, Not Just in Flavor

[ image — matcha powder (green) beside hojicha powder (amber) ]

Left: ceremonial-grade matcha. Right: Rikyu hojicha powder. The color difference reflects a fundamental shift in chemistry, not just processing.

This isn't a matter of preference. Matcha and hojicha powder differ at the molecular level.

The high-heat roasting process drives off chlorophyll — which is why hojicha loses its green. It also breaks down a significant portion of the caffeine content, reducing it to roughly one-fifth of matcha's level. The tannins that give green tea its astringency are similarly reduced, replaced by pyrazines and furans — the same roasted aromatic compounds that make coffee and toasted grain smell the way they do.

What this means for your menu: hojicha powder behaves differently in drinks. It disperses readily in warm milk without the aggressive whisking matcha requires. Its flavor doesn't compete with sweetness — it collaborates with it. Brown sugar, oat milk, vanilla, dark chocolate. Hojicha leans into all of them.

Our Sourcing Approach — The Same Standard, Applied to a New Leaf

When we source matcha, we visit the farms. We sit with the producers. We ask about cultivar selection, shading schedules, and milling temperature. We don't buy through brokers.

We brought that same approach to hojicha.

[ image — hojicha roasting facility / producer ]

Our hojicha producer partner, working the roast. The temperature and duration of each batch are calibrated by hand.

For hojicha powder, the key variables are different from matcha — but they're no less exacting. 

 determine whether the final powder is bright and lightly toasted or deep and smoky. Too short, and the sweetness doesn't develop. Too long, and you lose the tea character entirely. We worked directly with our producers to establish a roast profile that holds across batches — something you can actually build recipes around.

. Hojicha made primarily from kukicha-style stems roasts more evenly and produces a smoother, less astringent powder than leaf-only approaches. This is a deliberate choice, not a cost-saving one — stems carry a particular sweetness that defines the best hojicha.

. Traditional loose hojicha is a coarse product not designed for suspension in liquid. Our powder is milled fine enough to disperse cleanly in milk-based drinks, without grittiness or clumping.

Freshness — the Same Protocol as Matcha

Roasted teas are acutely sensitive to oxidation. The compounds created during the roasting process — the ones responsible for that warm, caramel aroma — are volatile. Exposure to air, light, and moisture degrades them faster than most people expect.

We package our hojicha powder under the same 

 we use for matcha: sealed immediately after milling, inert atmosphere, opaque packaging. From the moment it leaves the roasting facility to the moment it reaches your café, that toasted character is preserved.

The most natural entry point is the evening menu. A hojicha latte at 8 PM is exactly what customers are looking for when they want something ceremonial and satisfying — without the caffeine that will keep them up until 2 AM. It fills a gap that herbal teas and decaf coffee never quite manage.

Beyond drinks, hojicha powder opens up pastry and dessert applications that neither cocoa nor coffee quite replicate. The toasty, caramel note integrates into glazes, creams, and custards with unusual elegance. Autumn and winter menus especially benefit — the flavor profile is warm in a way that feels seasonal without being gimmicky.

And for cafés already running matcha, hojicha becomes a natural companion on the menu board. Two powders, one philosophy — different enough to feel like a genuine choice, similar enough in preparation that your team doesn't need to learn an entirely new skill set.

Whether you're already working with our matcha or encountering Rikyu for the first time, we'd be glad to send you a sample of both powders side by side. It's the fastest way to understand what we mean when we say the difference is structural, not superficial.

Rikyu Hojicha: A New Powder for Your Café Program

We receive inquiries from around the world every week — from café owners, importers, product developers, and entrepreneurs who are exploring matcha sourcing for the first time. And right now, as Japan enters its matcha harvest season, that volume is at its highest. Buyers and distributors globally are making decisions about who they'll work with, and Japanese producers are doing the same.

This article is for anyone at that stage. Before you send your first message, here's what we think is worth understanding.

Why Japanese Producers Care About More Than Price

The tea farmers and producers we work with have dedicated years — often generations — to their craft. When they take on a new partner, what they're looking for first isn't volume or margin. It's understanding.

They want to know that the person on the other side of the relationship genuinely values what they've made. That starts with knowing what actually determines the quality of matcha.

What Makes Matcha, Matcha: The Factors That Matter

Most people know that origin matters — Uji, Nishio, Yame each carry distinct profiles. But origin is only one dimension. Here's what serious producers pay close attention to:

 Different tea plant varieties — Okumidori, Samidori, Gokou, and others — yield meaningfully different flavor profiles. Some are sweeter, some more umami-forward, some more suited to drinking straight, others to culinary applications.

 Tencha, the shade-grown leaf that becomes matcha after grinding, requires careful management of light, timing, and canopy. How long the plants are shaded, and how that shading is done, directly affects the chlorophyll content, amino acid profile, and the depth of flavor in the final product.

 First harvest (ichibancha) produces the most prized leaves, but not every application calls for first harvest. Understanding the season and timing behind your matcha helps you make the right choice for your product.

 Some producers move leaves into processing within hours of harvest. Others have found that allowing tencha to rest and age before grinding — in some cases, up to a full year — produces a matcha with a rounder, more complex character. This kind of aged or vintage matcha is rare, and not widely understood, but it exists.

 For brands where organic sourcing is a core value, we can connect you with certified producers. This is a growing segment, and we have relationships with farmers who meet international organic standards.

Every one of these decisions — cultivar, shading, timing, milling — ends up in the powder itself.

When someone reaches out to us, before we talk varieties or pricing or volumes, we ask: 

What do you care about, and how do you want to use this matcha?

That might sound simple, but the answer shapes everything. A specialty café building a single-origin ceremonial matcha program needs something very different from a wellness brand formulating a daily supplement. A chocolatier working matcha into ganache needs different flavor characteristics than a tea room serving traditional usucha.

There is no single "best" matcha. There is the right matcha for what you're trying to create.

Through our network of producers and trading partners in Japan, we're able to source across a genuinely wide spectrum:

If you're serious about building a matcha brand, the most important thing you can do right now is get clear on your own values — what you want this matcha to mean to your customers, and why it matters to you.

Bring that to us. We'll take it from there.

Thinking About Launching a Matcha Brand? Here's What You Should Know Before You Reach Out

Rikyu Matcha Company is a B2B partner that brings Japan's traditional matcha industry to the global stage, supporting matcha businesses worldwide.

Strong Partnerships with Japan's Premier Tea Regions

 We have established trusted relationships with Japan's most renowned matcha-producing regions: Kyoto, Shizuoka, Kagoshima, and Nishio. This enables us to provide a stable supply of high-quality, traditional Japanese matcha to customers around the world.

Behind-the-Scenes Support for Global Matcha Businesses

 We serve as the backbone for matcha business owners internationally, providing comprehensive support for their success.

Our experienced bilingual Japanese team provides powerful support for matcha business owners in each country. We are professionals who combine deep understanding of Japanese traditional culture with practical global business experience.

Rikyu Matcha Company operates as a subsidiary of FRIENDS CORP.

FRIENDS CORP. is a global conglomerate startup operating software, BPO, and agriculture businesses across Japan, the United States, Vietnam, and Bangladesh. With the mission of sustainably developing Japan's traditional matcha industry and passing it on to the next generation, we launched and continue to expand the Rikyu business.

Matcha Journal

Matcha and Ceramics: The Bond Between Tea and Bowls

Finding the Perfect Matcha for Your Business

Visiting Our Satsuma Tea Producer in Kagoshima, Japan

Rikyu Hojicha: A New Powder for Your Café Program

Thinking About Launching a Matcha Brand? Here's What You Should Know Before You Reach Out

About Rikyu Matcha Company

Let’s get matcha
into your product.

Matcha Journal

Matcha and Ceramics: The Bond Between Tea and Bowls

Finding the Perfect Matcha for Your Business

Visiting Our Satsuma Tea Producer in Kagoshima, Japan

Rikyu Hojicha: A New Powder for Your Café Program

Thinking About Launching a Matcha Brand? Here's What You Should Know Before You Reach Out

About Rikyu Matcha Company

Let’s get matchainto your product.

Let’s get matcha
into your product.