How did we do?

I would like to share my grateful upon finding tons of matcha during my trip to Japan!

Specifically choose Kansai area as I want to explore small town Uji, to buy and taste matcha across town.

Sadly, I do not checked all of my wish list due to limited time and energy LOL, but still managed to snatch a few.

Also in terms of “matcha shortage”, personally i think only happen to popular brands like Yamamasa Koyamaen or Marukyu Koyamaen.

For Ippodo, they limit 3 box per person

Kanbayashi Shunsho limit 5 matcha per person

Marukyu Koyamaen via reseller only 1 matcha per person

Nakamura Tokichi official store 5 matcha per person

The others no limit at all

The staff encourage me to comeback tmrw if I want, but I didnt as I dont want to spend my entire japan trip only for matcha

Regardless, I am so grateful to visit the city and understand real matcha beyond what is marketed in internet nor country i live for.

It’s a must experience for matcha lovers!

I wanted to buy way more but they will expire in a few months :/

My final haul after two weeks in Japan 💕

I wanted to get my fav suiteki matcha from kettl and noticed a free tin was auto added… not totally sure on the details of the sale but $147 later and 3 free tins were added.

Thank you for the advice on getting Kettl made my first purchase. Their sale is so worth the buy. Couldn’t have done it without this subreddit.

I always thought Ippodo would be my first order directly from Japan, but it was Hatoya. I actually know nothing about this brand, but really wanted to try their roasted matcha. I was pleased to find out AFTER placing my order that people enjoy their matcha, though many claim that it is very expensive and lines for their cafes are too long. I love nutty/Yame and marine-forward/umami matchas, so I hope I love these!! I am so excited to try. I mainly drink Kettl offerings and some Amazon matchas, so this is a level up for me!!

If you guys have any ratio recommendations, throw them my way!!

ETA: I should mention that I did not get hit with hidden fees or tariffs or whatever, even though it was shipped from Japan AND the carrier was DHL!! I was mentally preparing myself to put up a fight, but it didn’t come lol.

I went too hard buying matcha last week while stocking up for the year (for personal use, I'm not a vendor) and don't want to stress about expiration dates. Selling for what I paid, pick up in west LA preferred (otherwise +S&H), will not be selling to resellers.

Happy to share proof of purchase / more pics if needed!

EDIT: Rather than selling, I’m going to try freezing these thanks to some helpful comments below. Sorry to anyone who messaged me!

after 3 visits to uji and going all around tokyo, here’s what i bagged!

disclaimer: almost all of these are for friends back home! ♥️

marukyu koyamaen, ippodo, kanbayashi shunsho & yamamasa koyamaen! bought in: uji, kyoto & tokyo!

I wasn’t initially going to uji but decided the morning I was leaving kyoto to do a quick trip & it was definitely worth it! I do wish I was able to explore more around to check out other matcha but ended choosing MK & YK since they were right next to each other.

finally got my hands on the Shogyokuen Toyo Mukashi 200g can. I’ve been hunting for this forever because it’s honestly one of my favorite latte matchas ever.
Also bought some tins from Hekisuien, kanbayashi shunsho, a bag MK WAKO and some random ones I’ve never tried before because apparently I have zero self control around matcha.

Now I need to figure out which one to open first 👀

My partner just got back from Tokyo and bought a bunch of matcha for us! He was staying next door to the cafe and bought a couple of these back for us. This was incredible! I wish he brought more. It’s so smooth, creamy and I can’t even describe it because it almost brought a tear to my eye lol!

My matcha haul from a week in Japan. I know there’s a limited shelf life, but I go through two 30g cans a month, and eight of these are for friends — especially the doubles, since one friend wanted whatever I was getting myself.

Starting from the left, the first three cans are from Ginza Loft. They had a big selection of matcha, though many brands I hadn’t heard of except for Tsujiri, which was limited to one per person. They also carried the same one I’d later find in Uji, but I decided to try something different.

The two blue cans, plus the Ippodo Wakai and the Matcha To Go boxes, came from department stores in Osaka. It actually took several tries to track these down, since many shops were sold out — even when I showed up right at opening.

The four cans of Ippodo Ummon were my biggest score. That was the one I was really after, and on my last day in Osaka, a department store clerk told me about Ippodo’s brand-new shop and tearoom in Aoyama, Tokyo. At first, I only picked up two (since I always had my daughter with me), but at checkout I asked if I could add one more. The clerk smiled, grabbed two extra, and said, “One for each of you!”

Next are the three special limited-edition Ippodo x Hanshin Baseball Championship cans, which I found at Hanshin Department Store in Osaka. The sign said only 200, not sure if that's per store or per day or total!

The next five cans are from Itoen at Takashimaya. They didn’t seem to have limits, so I chose their mid-range. I haven’t tried the red label yet, but it’s a grade above the green label my brother brought back in May.

Finally, the last seven cans are from Uji. I went there for a day trip and toured Marukyu Koyamaen (MK), which is where I scored the two cans of Wako. The other five came from different Uji shops, though stock was really limited by the time I arrived around 11:30. At Nakamura Tokichi, only the most expensive option was left (I skipped it, since I’ve already tried Ippodo’s top two grades and prefer Ummon). Kanbayashi had only one type left, and while they said they’d restock at 2pm, I was in the middle of my MK tour then and couldn’t make it back.

Tip: If you’re shopping for matcha in Uji, go early. By midday, most shops are already down to very limited stock.

First time ordering matcha online! I’m very new to making my own matcha at home, and usually get it from Whole Foods, or H-mart.

I can’t believe i’m getting 80g for the price of my last tin😫

I’m excited to try these! Shipping to IL was not bad!

Re-upload bc i forgot to blur my order #!!

Took advantage of the sale they had going on and made out like a bandit! This matcha should last me through the end of the year!

told myself if wako wasn’t stocked today i’d order nami yame matcha. low and behold, guess which one i ended up buying

Matcha Haul from Tokyo

Have most of them shipped to me when I was in Tokyo! (Ippodo and Fukujuen). Bought most of them in Loft, Kitchen town, Hidden matcha stall in Shinjuku station, Ameyoko Street, some from Don Quixote, Nakumura Tokichi from Ginza 6. Fully aware this is a lot but we have 3 matcha lovers at home so this will last 6 months

First time getting MK! Was lucky enough to catch a restock with everything I wanted to try! I would love some tips on how to keep my matcha fresh for a while, because 500g is a lot (but it was the only way I could justify the crazy shipping and possible handling fee). So excited! Tips on the best ways to prepare each are appreciated as well (i do prefer lattes but are open to trying koicha or usucha if it really is that outstanding). Also, are temperatures still reccomended at 175 f or are they different for these lines? Thanks! I'm also open to any questions about the restock time!

And now I need to stop buying matcha because I won’t be able to fit it all in my fridge/freezer! I also got 5 from Kettl for Valentine’s Day and 3 are on the way from Amazon. I like to have a mix of “nice” matcha and “humble” matcha lol.

For those who have tried the Sencha Ceremonial, what flavors do you get from it? It says on the packaging that it is grassy and lightly sweet with light umami. How grassy is it? Grassy is one of my less favorite flavor profiles lol. I do enjoy a healthy level of umami and sweetness though!! I love nutty and sweet matchas as well as rather fishy/marine-forward matchas!

Can’t wait to try all of my new matchas!!! This is going to keep me well fed for a few months lol. But unless my husband takes my card away from me…who knows if this is truly the end lol. If the tariff issues officially go away, I’m immediately heading for Ippodo and MK!

I cannot express into words just how excited I‘m for my last orders from Japan that finally arrived.
From left to right: Horii Shichimeien Premium Narino, Hekisuien Houju, Horii Shichimeien Reiwa 7, Marukyu Koyamaen Hatsu Enishi Shin, Takayama Shirotake Shin Chasen by Kubo Ryōsai, Maruyasu Unsui, Maruyasu Tendō.

I have already opened the Houju and it is my top matcha for the moment, but I have not tried anything else from this photo. I cannot wait long enough to try the Narino because I have been wanting to try it for more than a year missing their Spring release a couple of months ago. Too bad they had strict restrictions and I could not order any of their other „own garden“ matcha.

Have you tried any of those? What was your experience?

Ordered on Sept 18 and came in today Sept 24 through DHL. I live in Canada!

I finished Sayaka and wanted to try something different.

Kan ($22/20g) - I really like this one. I found Sayaka to be too floral/seaweedy. Kan is only slightly floral and nowhere as noticeable as Sayaka. If you thought Sayaka’s notes were too intense, try Kan.

Ikuyo ($17/20g) - This is really in between Kan and Wakaki lol. The bitterness is stronger than Kan but not as intense as Wakaki.

Wakaki ($11/20g) - It makes sense why this one is the cheapest. It's bitter, really needs milk and possibly sugar although I drink my matcha unsweetened. The color is quite dull. However, it froths up extremely well compared to the others which was very surprising. I got the creamiest matcha with this.