Most of the matcha sold around the world is a blend. Tea merchants buy leaves from many farms and mix them to hit a target flavour at a target price. There's nothing wrong with that — it's how much of the tea industry has always worked.

But something gets lost along the way: the character of the place the tea was grown. That's what single-farm matcha keeps.

What "single-farm" means

Single-farm matcha comes from one grower, on one piece of land. You know exactly where it was grown, who grew it, and how. Nothing from anywhere else is mixed in.

Like wine or speciality coffee, tea reflects where it's grown — the soil, the slope, the climate. Blending smooths those differences out. A single farm lets them come through.

Wazuka: the heart of Uji tea

Wazuka is a small town in the hills of southern Kyoto Prefecture. Tea has been grown here since the 13th century, and today Wazuka produces close to half of all the Uji tea grown in Kyoto — one of Japan's most prized tea regions.

Yet most people have never heard of it. For centuries, Wazuka's tea was simply sold under the better-known Uji name.

Why tea grows so well there

• Big temperature swings: Warm days and cool nights slow the tea plants' growth.
• Natural mist: Fog rising from the valleys drifts over the fields, softening the sunlight on the plants.
• Sloping hillsides: Tea is grown on steep slopes where the soil drains well.

Growers credit these conditions with the region's tea character: a fresh aroma and a taste that balances sweetness with umami.

Why first harvest matters

Through winter, tea plants store up nutrients. The first leaves of spring are the youngest and most tender, and richest in the amino acids that make matcha sweet and savoury. Later harvests carry more of the compounds that make tea bitter.

Before harvest, matcha plants are also shaded for several weeks. With less sunlight, the leaves produce more chlorophyll and hold on to those amino acids — which is where matcha's vivid green colour and smooth flavour come from.

The leaves are then steamed, dried, stripped of stems and veins, and ground into fine powder. Nothing else goes in.

What this means for your café

• Better-tasting drinks: Natural sweetness means less need for added syrup to make a latte work.
• A drink that looks the part: First-harvest, shade-grown matcha gives you that vivid green customers expect.
• A story to tell: "Single-farm matcha from Wazuka, Kyoto" means far more on a menu than "ceremonial grade".
• No shifting blend: Every harvest has its own character, as any natural product does, but you always know exactly where your matcha comes from.

Matcha for your café

Kyo's Matcha is single-origin, first-harvest ceremonial matcha from one farm in Wazuka, Kyoto — 100% ground green tea leaves, nothing added. The best way to judge it is in your own cup: request a sample through our wholesale page.