Suitable for usucha  (read our blogpost about how to choose matcha)

Stoneground tencha. An affordable matcha great for everyday drinking, with a good umami flavour, a hint of bitterness and a delicious nutty aftertaste that lingers in the mouth.

Region: Hoshinomura, Yame, Fukuoka

Only for preparation with water alone. Not as good as Mokuren in lattes. Mokuren is a best in class latte matcha from Yame which has a profile that can stand against milk and offer a much better matcha latte experience.

Small tip: Remember to always sift matcha before preparation! Here is our recommended matcha strainer.

About Matcha Freshness:

Ike no shiro’s tea producer suggest to enjoy usucha and koicha grade matcha within 7 months from being stone ground. Other quality tea producers suggest 6 months, some suggest 8 months. In our opinion, any use by date longer than 9 months is a sign that the seller doesn’t care much about freshness of matcha - a non oxidised tea with particle sizes of 6-8 microns. As we push towards increasing the transparency from the origin of the tea all the way to the final consumer, we are adding the stone grind date to all matcha purchased from us along with a suggested use by date (unopened). We challenge everyone looking to buy matcha to enquire about the grind date for the matcha you are buying, and we challenge all matcha sellers to provide this date as it is the only date that matters concerning the freshness of the tea before it is opened.

Once opened, high quality matcha’s freshness is best enjoyed within 4 weeks. Again, some tea producers suggest less, and others are more lenient. We want the final consumer of the tea to have the essential information (stone grind date and open date) to be able to keep track of when the matcha was ground and when it was opened, to decide for themselves how strict/lenient to be. To encourage this, there will also be a small space on the matcha pack/can for you to write the date you open the matcha. We want you to see if you notice the flavour change over time, and come to your own conclusions about how important freshness is!

We know that while the tea is safe to consume for much longer than 6-8 months after grinding, it is a target to set that allows the bright vivid flavours to still be enjoyed. The longer the matcha sits unopened the more dull the flavours will become. Fridge storage will help to delay the flavour degradation, and for room temperature storage we would recommend to use within 3-6 months. We don’t have much experience with freezing matcha but if you would like to, it is a good idea to refrigerate for one day before freezing and again after removing from the freezer (and then place in room temperature for a few hours before opening) to slow the temperature changes.