The Measure of Koicha

Tea Without Disguise

Uji's matcha tradition developed alongside chanoyu and the exacting preparation of shaded tencha. Koicha is where that accumulated craft becomes most exposed: far more tea, far less water, and no room for roughness to disappear.

Koicha uses far more matcha and far less water than an ordinary bowl. The tea is kneaded into a dense, glossy texture rather than whisked into foam. At that concentration, bitterness cannot be hidden and roughness cannot be diluted.

This is why koicha is a measure of the leaf itself. The matcha must begin with sweetness, depth, and a texture able to carry its own weight.

Sui is made for that standard. Its blend of Okumidori, Samidori, and Saemidori is slowly stone-milled for a rich, smooth bowl with a long and quiet finish.

Heat Before the Stone

Sui's first-flush leaves are steamed, left unrolled, and dried in a brick-lined tencha furnace. Stored heat moves through the brickwork as radiant heat, working with hot air to remove moisture through to the center of the leaf.

The furnace prepares a vivid, evenly dried tencha before slow stone milling. For koicha, where concentration exposes texture and roughness, this drying stage matters before the powder ever reaches the mill.

Beyond the Thick Bowl

Prepared as koicha, Sui reveals its full density. Prepared as usucha, the same quality becomes lightness without thinness—an unusually generous expression of the tea.