30g Japanese First Harvest Matcha

Great matcha starts with knowing what you're looking for, which is why we've partnered with Hiromi, founder of Watashi Tea, to source our matcha.

Hiromi grew up in Japan, where green tea was part of everyday life and matcha was something enjoyed more intentionally, often alongside traditional wagashi and on special occasions.

After discovering the modern matcha latte culture in London, she began looking at matcha differently. Rather than choosing tea based simply on labels such as “ceremonial grade”, Hiromi focuses on something we really like: choosing the right matcha for the way it's actually going to be enjoyed.

Flavour, structure, origin and how the tea pairs with milk all matter. A delicate matcha might be exceptional on its own but disappear completely in a latte, while the right matcha retains its sweetness, body and character.

It's an approach that feels very familiar to us at Northside. Just as we select and roast coffees with a particular style of drink in mind, Hiromi selects matcha with purpose.

Working with someone who understands both the traditions of Japanese tea and the way matcha is enjoyed today gives us confidence that what we're putting in the bag isn't simply good matcha, it's the right matcha for what we want it to do.

Just like coffee, where it comes from matters, but origin alone doesn't guarantee quality.

Through our matcha partner, Watashi Tea, our matcha is sourced directly from tea farmers and producers in Japan. Hiromi visits tea growing regions, meets producers and tastes extensively to understand not only where each tea comes from, but how it actually performs in the cup.

And the tasting goes further than simply whisking matcha with water.

Different preparations, temperatures, milk ratios and pairings are tested, even looking at how the flavour develops as the drink cools. The focus is on sweetness, umami, texture, balance, depth and finish rather than simply chasing intensity or relying on a grade printed on the packet.

Beyond “ceremonial grade”

You'll see the words ceremonial grade on a lot of matcha. The problem is, it isn't a particularly useful way of telling you how that matcha is actually going to taste or how well it's going to work in your drink.

A beautifully delicate matcha might be fantastic whisked traditionally with water, but completely disappear when you add milk.

Instead, our matcha is selected with a purpose.

We wanted something with enough depth and structure to make a genuinely great matcha latte, while retaining the natural sweetness, smooth texture and umami that make high-quality Japanese matcha so good in the first place.

From leaf to cup

There's a huge amount that happens before matcha reaches your cup.

Cultivar, soil, shading and harvest timing all influence the tea while it's growing. After harvest, steaming, drying, sorting, de-stemming, blending and milling each play their part in developing the final flavour and texture.

It's this combination of good farming, skilled production and careful selection that creates great matcha.

It's an approach we understand well at Northside.

We wouldn't choose a coffee simply because somebody called it “specialty”. We taste it, understand where it came from and decide whether it's right for what we want to create.

We think matcha deserves exactly the same attention.