Sourcing & Quality
Proof you can
taste.
MATSU is producer-direct: we buy from named growers in Uji, Kagoshima, and Izumo, so the tea passes through two hands — the grower and you. Our quality assurance does not start with a document. It starts with a $99 Tasting Kit that lets you evaluate the actual grade against your own recipe before you commit to volume. If your import desk needs a certificate of analysis, we will arrange one for your lot — we just don't think it should replace tasting the tea.
A certificate you can't verify is paper.
Tasting the actual lot is proof.
Order the Tasting Kit of three flagship grades and bench-test it against your own milk, recipe, and process. The $99 is credited in full to a first order — so once you commit, the test costs nothing.
Order the Tasting Kit — $99
Producer-direct, from named growers
Most matcha reaches a buyer through several intermediaries, each of whom can substitute or reblend the powder without telling you. MATSU works the other way: we buy directly from growers we can name, in Uji, Kagoshima, and Izumo. That relationship is the point of the whole model — you can find out who selected the tea, from which field and which harvest, and who packed and shipped it. Nothing anonymous sits between the leaf and your counter.
Why the same grade stays the same
Consistency between orders does not come from testing a shipment after the fact. It comes from buying producer-direct. Because MATSU works with the same growers year after year, the same grade is picked from the same source and shaded and milled the same way — so a reorder reproduces the previous shipment rather than arriving as whatever stock a broker happened to hold that month. When a grade runs short, the substitution is a tasted match you are told about, never a silent swap. Reproducibility here is a relationship, not a paper trail.
What you can confirm for yourself
Two things decide a cup, and you can judge both directly in the Tasting Kit:
Colour
Shade-grown, early-pluck leaf gives a vivid green rather than a khaki cast. You see it in the powder and in the bowl before it ever reaches a customer.
Solubility
A fine, stone-milled grind dissolves cleanly for lattes and iced drinks — no clumping, no grit at the bottom of the cup. Test it in your own milk.
Taste in your process
The only test that matters for a café or kitchen: does the grade hold its character through your recipe? Bench it against your own workflow, not a spec sheet.
Shipping paperwork
Every wholesale order ships with standard commercial documents so an import desk can clear it without back-and-forth — a commercial invoice, a packing list, and HS-code-correct export documentation. These are ordinary trade documents, not laboratory quality reports. Import requirements on your side vary by country and by buyer; for anything specific to your market — for example US FSVP obligations or destination inspection — confirm the current rules with your customs broker.
Frequently asked questions
How does MATSU assure quality?
By tasting, not by paper. MATSU sources producer-direct from named growers, and the assurance is a $99 Tasting Kit that lets you evaluate the actual grade against your own recipe and process before you commit to volume. A certificate you cannot verify is paper; tasting the real lot is proof.
What does producer-direct mean?
The matcha passes through two hands — the grower and you. MATSU buys directly from named growers in Uji, Kagoshima, and Izumo rather than reselling anonymous stock from a broker's floor. That means you know who selected and shipped the tea, and the same grower supplies the same grade season after season.
How does MATSU keep a grade consistent between orders?
Through the relationship, not through testing. Because MATSU works with the same growers year after year, the same grade is picked from the same source and shaded and milled the same way — so a reorder reproduces the previous shipment. Consistency is structural: it comes from buying producer-direct rather than reassembling whatever stock a broker has that month.
What quality can I confirm for myself?
The two things that decide a cup: colour and solubility. Shade-grown leaf gives an early-pluck, vivid green rather than a khaki cast, and a fine, stone-milled grind dissolves cleanly for lattes without clumping or grit. Both are visible and tastable in the Tasting Kit — you judge them against your own milk, recipe, and process.
What paperwork ships with an order?
Standard commercial shipping documents — a commercial invoice, a packing list, and HS-code-correct export documentation — so an import desk can clear the shipment. These are ordinary trade documents, not laboratory quality reports. Any import requirements on your side (for example US FSVP or destination inspection) vary by country and buyer; confirm them with your customs broker.
How do I start?
Order the $99 Tasting Kit of three flagship grades, or take the short
diagnostic to see which grades fit your use, then request the catalogue for full specifications and wholesale pricing. Response within 24 hours.
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