Young tea leaves on green bushes catching low golden sunlight on a matcha tea farm

Our farmers

Meet the People Behind Your Matcha

Get to know our Japanese farm partners and how they grow the tea we choose.

Meet Our Farmers

Our relationships

From their fields to your bowl

Dr. Andrew Weil began building relationships with Japanese tea farmers in the 1970s. We still work the same way: directly with families in regions including Uji, Wazuka, Kawane and Kagoshima, season after season.

Many of these farms are small and family-run. The work is patient and largely by hand. Shading the fields, picking only the youngest leaves and milling slowly on stone all take time. We believe that care deserves to be recognized and fairly rewarded.

  • Uji, Kyoto
  • Wazuka, Kyoto
  • Kawane, Shizuoka
  • Kagoshima

How they grow it

Shade, patience and the first leaves of spring

Weeks before harvest, farmers draw shade cloth over the tea rows. With less sunlight, the leaves turn a deeper green and develop the savory umami sweetness matcha is known for.

At first harvest, only the tender top leaves are picked. On the smallest farms this is still done by hand, row by row.

  1. Aerial view of tea rows, some under black shade cloth

    Shade

    Weeks before harvest, shade cloth goes over the rows. With less sunlight, the leaves turn a deeper green.

  2. A farmer rolling shade cloth over the tea rows

    By hand

    On the smallest farms the cloth is drawn over every row by hand.

  3. A farmer holding a young tea shoot in a shaded field

    The first leaves

    At harvest, only the tender top leaves are picked.

  4. Terraced tea gardens on a Japanese hillside

    Season after season

    The same slopes, tended by the same families for generations.

Farmer stories

Meet the growers

Japanese tea farmers in their own words.

In the field

Dr. Weil with our growers

  • Dr. Andrew Weil among tea rows beside fields under shade cloth
  • A tea farmer in front of his terraced rows
  • Dr. Andrew Weil and a farmer tending a row of tea
  • A farmer rolling shade cloth over the tea
  • A farmer standing in a shaded tea field
  • A farmer drawing shade cloth across the rows
  • Aerial view of tea rows and shade cloth
  • A tea farmer on his hillside

From their fields

Taste their work

Every tin carries a season of care from the families who grew it.

Shop All MatchaHow Matcha Is Made
  • Matcha.com First Harvest Japanese matcha green tea powder in silver ceremonial grade tin packaging with minimalist green label design.
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    First Harvest Matcha

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    Ritual • Usucha + Latte

    First Harvest Matcha