• Common Product Name: Organic Uji Matcha See our guide to Japanese tea.
• Brand: Yūmu（有無）
• Weight: 30g (1.1 oz)
• Ingredients: Organic tencha, stone-ground
• Origin: Wazuka, Soraku District, Kyoto
• Certifications: JAS Organic
• Best Before: 6 months (unopened)
• Storage: Refrigerate. Keep away from light and strong odors. Consume within 3 months of opening.
• Producer: Nakai Seicha-ba Co., Ltd., Est. c.1688

Organic matcha is naturally slightly yellow-green rather than the vivid deep green of conventionally grown tea. This is not a defect — it is what matcha looks like without chemical fertilizers pushing chlorophyll production. If you are expecting the bright green of café matcha, this will look different. If you are expecting the real thing, this is it.

Nakai Seicha-ba has farmed tea in Wazuka since the late 17th century — seven generations in a valley that the Japanese tea world has long called Chagenkyō, the village at the source of tea. Wazuka sits in southern Kyoto, surrounded by mountains on all sides, with terraced fields climbing steep slopes above the upper Kizu River. The isolation is what makes it special: no neighboring farmland means no pesticide drift, and the mountain fog and temperature swings produce a leaf with natural depth. Three generations ago, the family went fully organic. The transition cost them two-thirds of their harvest. They built the brand Yūmu from what remained — and it turned out to be enough.

Whisk with 70–75°C water — two grams, sixty milliliters, until the foam is fine and pale green. Organic matcha tends toward a slightly grassy, vegetal character: this is the real thing, not the sweetened café version. For daily use: stir into warm or iced milk for a clean, sugar-free latte. Add to Greek yogurt with honey. Fold into no-bake energy balls with oats and almond butter. The organic certification matters here — when you are drinking this every day, what is not in the tin matters as much as what is.