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Blue Bottle Coffee: Coffee Roaster with Uji Matcha

Blue Bottle Coffee partners with Rishouen Teahouse for first-harvest Uji matcha, traditionally shade-grown and stone-milled.
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Who is Blue Bottle Coffee?

Blue Bottle Coffee is a Oakland, California-born coffee company offering ceremonial matcha through its Craft Matcha. Its matcha comes from Uji, Kyoto and uses first-flush tencha, shade-grown for sweet umami and stone-milled for fine texture.

Blue Bottle partners exclusively with Rishouen Teahouse, whose tea master’s Way of Tea lineage reaches five generations. Rishouen uses Tana Oishitaen shading for three to four weeks before harvest, then hand-selects young leaves, steams, dries, and slowly stone-mills them.

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Oakland-born third-wave coffee pioneer with ceremonial matcha

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Blue Bottle Coffee in details

Blue Bottle Coffee brings the same meticulous attention to detail that built their specialty coffee reputation to the world of matcha. Founded in early 2000s Oakland by clarinetist-turned-coffee-pioneer James Freeman, the brand’s commitment to freshness and quality extends beyond their signature 48-hour roasting standard into every product they offer.

First-Harvest Excellence from Uji, Japan

Blue Bottle’s Craft Matcha sources exclusively from the first harvest in Uji, Japan—the historic heartland of premium Japanese tea cultivation. This ceremonial-grade matcha represents the youngest, most tender leaves from shade-grown tencha plants, carefully stone-milled to protect against heat degradation. The result delivers vibrant color, smooth texture, and balanced flavor that matcha enthusiasts recognize immediately.

The brand’s sourcing team works directly with producers in Uji to ensure authenticity and consistency. Each tin contains powder that showcases the region’s distinctive terroir—notes that range from naturally sweet to subtly umami, without bitterness or astringency.

Quality You Can Taste and Trust

What sets Blue Bottle Coffee apart in the matcha marketplace is their uncompromising approach to preservation. The stone-milling process maintains the delicate compounds that give matcha its signature bright green hue and nutritional profile. Whether whisked into traditional tea, blended into lattes, or incorporated into culinary creations, this matcha performs consistently.

The brand offers flexible subscription options—up to six tins per delivery with customizable frequency and free shipping—ensuring matcha lovers never run low on their essential ingredient.

From Coffee Experts to Matcha Specialists

Blue Bottle’s transition into matcha reflects their broader understanding of craft beverages. The same principles that guide their coffee selection apply here:

  • Direct relationships with growers who share quality standards
  • Transparent sourcing from renowned production regions
  • Careful handling that preserves flavor and freshness
  • Education-focused approach that helps customers appreciate what they’re drinking

Available both online and in their cafes across the United States and Japan, Blue Bottle Craft Matcha serves customers who value origin stories as much as taste profiles. For those exploring matcha options or seeking a reliable ceremonial-grade powder, Blue Bottle offers the credibility of an established specialty beverage company combined with authentic Japanese tea tradition.

About the Blue Bottle Coffee Matcha

Blue Bottle Coffee offers Craft Matcha, a ceremonial-grade matcha produced in partnership with the Rishouen Teahouse.

Craft Matcha

It is ceremonial quality suitable for the traditional tea ceremony (chanoyu), stone-milled from shade-grown tencha and drawn from the first flush (ichibancha). The flavor is verdant, smooth, and vibrant, with an intricate earthy taste and enhanced umami.

Production

The tencha is shade-grown using the Tana Oishitaen method, covered roughly three to four weeks before harvest to raise chlorophyll and L-theanine and produce the signature green color and sweet, umami flavor. Only the youngest, most tender leaves are hand-selected, steamed to halt oxidation, dried into flakes, and slowly stone-milled to prevent heat buildup for a fine, smooth texture.

Harvest location

Blue Bottle Coffee's Craft Matcha originates from Uji in Kyoto, widely considered the birthplace of Japanese tea culture, where its Kyoto-based team explored the mountains to find matcha meeting its standards. Its exclusive partner is Rishouen Teahouse in Uji, whose tea master's Way of Tea expertise traces back five generations to an original Uji tea farmer.

Cultivation and shading

Tea plants grow freely in the fertile soils of Uji with minimal intervention, trimmed only after the spring harvest. The critical shading begins three to four weeks before harvest using the Tana Oishitaen technique, in which vinyl covers are set on aluminium pole structures.

Harvest and quality

Harvest focuses only on first-flush, ichibancha, leaves collected from late April to mid-May, when the youngest, most nutrient-rich leaves carry the highest L-theanine and chlorophyll. Rishouen judges quality by deep green colour, delicate texture, fresh grassy aroma and a balance of sweetness, umami and bitterness.

Blue Bottle Coffee History

Blue Bottle Coffee was founded in 2002 by James Freeman, a clarinetist who began roasting six pounds of beans at a time in his Oakland, California apartment and delivering them by bicycle within 48 hours of roasting.

Milestones

  • 2005 — Opened its first brick-and-mortar café, helping define third-wave coffee.
  • 2017 — Nestlé acquired a 68% stake for $425 million.
  • 2024 — Reached over 78 US café locations.
January 1, 2002

James Freeman, a clarinetist with a passion for fresh coffee, begins roasting six pounds of beans at a time in his Oakland apartment, delivering them by bicycle within 48 hours of roasting to establish his revolutionary approach to coffee freshness.

January 1, 2005

Blue Bottle opens its first physical cafe location, cementing its position in the third-wave coffee movement with a focus on single-origin beans, obsessive brewing methods, and direct customer connections.

January 1, 2017

Swiss food giant Nestlé purchases a 68% stake in Blue Bottle Coffee for $425 million, enabling the company to scale operations globally while maintaining its commitment to specialty coffee quality standards.

June 1, 2024

Blue Bottle Coffee expands to over 78 cafes across the United States, primarily concentrated in California, while partnering with traditional Japanese teahouse Rishouen to offer ceremonial-grade matcha from Uji, Kyoto.

Frequently asked questions

Here are some frequently asked questions and answers.

What makes Blue Bottle Coffee's Craft Matcha different from other ceremonial grade matchas?

Blue Bottle Coffee's Craft Matcha is sourced exclusively through their partnership with Rishouen teahouse in Uji, Kyoto, led by second-generation tea master Koji Kagata. The matcha uses the specialized Tana Oishitaen production method, where tea plants are shaded with a one-layer vinyl cover supported by aluminum poles at 2 meters height for precise light control.

This ceremonial grade matcha is stone-milled from first flush tencha leaves and meets the standards for traditional Japanese chanoyu (tea ceremony). The result is a distinctly verdant, smooth, and vibrant flavor profile with enhanced umami from the meticulous shading process.

Who is Koji Kagata and why does Blue Bottle Coffee partner with Rishouen?

Koji Kagata is the second-generation tea master who leads Rishouen teahouse, Blue Bottle Coffee's exclusive matcha partner. His tea knowledge spans five generations, inherited from his great-great-grandfather who was a tea farmer in Uji.

Blue Bottle Coffee chose Rishouen because:

  • Located in Uji, Kyoto - the birthplace of Japanese tea
  • Specializes in selecting the finest tencha from Uji's best fields
  • Uses traditional stone-milling techniques
  • Maintains the authentic standards required for chanoyu ceremony

This partnership ensures Blue Bottle's Craft Matcha meets their exacting quality standards while honoring traditional Japanese tea craftsmanship.

How does Nestlé's ownership of Blue Bottle Coffee affect their Craft Matcha quality?

Since Nestlé acquired a 68% stake in Blue Bottle Coffee for $425 million in 2017, the company has maintained its partnership with Rishouen and commitment to traditional matcha production methods. The Craft Matcha continues to use the same ceremonial-grade tencha leaves, stone-milling process, and Tana Oishitaen shading technique.

While some specialty coffee purists expressed concerns about corporate ownership, Blue Bottle has preserved its core matcha sourcing practices and quality standards. The Nestlé acquisition primarily enabled broader distribution and scaling of operations rather than changing the fundamental production approach for their premium matcha offerings.

What is the Tana Oishitaen method used for Blue Bottle Coffee's matcha production?

The Tana Oishitaen method is the specialized shading technique Rishouen uses exclusively for Blue Bottle Coffee's Craft Matcha. This process involves draping tea plants with a one-layer vinyl cover on aluminum pole shelves positioned 2 meters above ground.

This precise elevation and covering system allows for:

  • Controlled light filtration - not complete darkness
  • Enhanced chlorophyll production for vibrant green color
  • Increased L-theanine levels for umami richness
  • Optimal sweetness development in the leaves

The method represents a modern innovation on traditional kabuse (shading) techniques, ensuring Blue Bottle's matcha achieves its signature verdant, smooth, and vibrant flavor profile.

Can I get Blue Bottle Coffee's Craft Matcha in their cafes or only online?

You can experience Blue Bottle Coffee's Craft Matcha both ways. In their 78+ cafes across the US (primarily in California), you can order prepared matcha drinks including their seasonal Lavender Yuzu Matcha Latte and traditional Matcha Latte made with their ceremonial-grade powder.

For home preparation, the Craft Matcha powder is available for purchase online and in select cafe locations. This allows you to experience the same Uji-sourced, stone-milled matcha that Rishouen produces specifically for Blue Bottle's exacting standards, whether you prefer the convenience of a professionally prepared drink or the ritual of traditional matcha preparation at home.