Rishi Tea
Rishi Tea presentation
Rishi Tea & Botanicals has spent decades building relationships with master tea artisans across Japan and China, creating a supply chain rooted in direct trade and mutual respect. This Milwaukee-based specialty tea company brings traditional cultivation methods and organic farming practices to every cup, ensuring that quality never takes a backseat to convenience.
Direct Trade Partnerships That Matter
Rather than working through brokers and middlemen, Rishi Tea establishes long-term partnerships directly with tea gardens. Their Organic Barista Matcha comes from carefully maintained farms in Kagoshima on Kyushu Island, where growers follow strict cultivation procedures passed down through generations. These relationships allow Rishi to ensure authentic growing practices, including the traditional 3-4 week shading period that increases chlorophyll content and enhances L-theanine levels.
This direct connection means transparency at every step. You know exactly where your matcha originates and how it was produced.
Traditional Methods Meet Modern Applications
Rishi Tea understands that today’s matcha enthusiasts need versatility. Their Barista Matcha uses first and second harvest leaves to create a powder with assertive strength designed specifically for mixing with milk, blending into smoothies, or incorporating into culinary creations. The bright green color and fresh character hold up beautifully in lattes and hot chocolate, delivering natural energy without compromising flavor.
Each 100-gram tin provides over 50 servings of certified organic matcha, offering both quality and value for regular matcha drinkers.
Comprehensive Tea Expertise
While matcha represents a cornerstone of their offerings, Rishi’s expertise extends across the entire tea spectrum. Their portfolio includes:
- Loose leaf teas spanning black, green, oolong, white, and pu’er varieties
- Ready-to-drink options including tea concentrates and sparkling botanicals
- Curated teaware and matcha-specific preparation tools
- Educational resources and recipe guides for tea exploration
This breadth of knowledge informs their matcha production, drawing on deep understanding of tea cultivation, processing, and preparation techniques. Rishi Tea doesn’t just sell matcha—they share decades of accumulated wisdom about what makes exceptional green tea powder. Their commitment to organic certification and kosher standards demonstrates that quality assurance extends beyond taste to encompass environmental and dietary considerations that matter to conscious consumers.
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Matcha produced by Rishi Tea
Rishi Tea & Botanicals offers Organic Barista Matcha, a culinary-grade powder specifically crafted for modern beverage applications. This matcha is designed to blend seamlessly into lattes, smoothies, and other creative culinary preparations, making it ideal for cafe-quality drinks whether served hot or iced.
The Organic Barista Matcha features a simple, clean ingredient profile consisting solely of organic green tea. Each teaspoon (2g) serving contains just 5 calories, 65mg of sodium, and 1g of carbohydrates, making it a light addition to beverages and recipes.
Rishi Tea produces their matcha through traditional methods, stone-milling shade-grown green tea called tencha (碾茶) into an ultra-fine powder. According to Marino Baca, Regional Manager at Rishi Tea and Botanicals, tencha is harvested just once each year between May and June and is grown exclusively for matcha production.
The company emphasizes their commitment to direct trade relationships with master artisans and organic tea farmers in Japan. Rishi sources exclusive, super-premium cultivars harvested during the spring season, ensuring quality through sustainable farming practices and fair trade partnerships.
While designed as a culinary-grade matcha rather than ceremonial grade, Rishi’s Barista Matcha maintains the traditional production values that define authentic Japanese matcha, including the crucial shading process that develops the powder’s characteristic vivid green color, umami sweetness, and energizing properties from elevated L-theanine content.
History of Rishi Tea
Rishi Tea & Botanicals has established itself as a pioneering force in the specialty tea industry through its commitment to direct trade relationships and artisanal quality. For decades, the company has been trekking through tea-growing havens in China and Japan, partnering with master artisans who live and breathe tea.
The company’s approach centers on direct trade partnerships, working directly with growers to ensure fair practices and exceptional quality. This philosophy extends beyond simple commerce to create lasting relationships with tea gardens and farmers who maintain traditional cultivation methods.
Rishi emphasizes organic methods and sustainable farming, connecting tea lovers with unique single-origin and blended teas. Their sourcing strategy focuses on regions like Kagoshima Prefecture on Kyushu Island, Japan, where meticulously maintained tea gardens and farmers adhere to strict cultivation standards.
The company has developed particular expertise in matcha (powdered green tea), understanding the intricate process of tencha (tea leaves destined for matcha) cultivation. Their knowledge encompasses the traditional 3-4 week shading process that elevates chlorophyll content and enhances L-theanine and other stimulating amino acids responsible for matcha’s unique energy profile.
Through their Garden Direct program, Rishi continues to bring exclusive, super-premium cultivars directly from organic tea farmers, maintaining their commitment to quality and authenticity in every cup.
5 events from Rishi Tea's history
January 1995
Company Founded by Joshua Kaiser
Joshua Adam Kaiser established Rishi Tea as a specialty tea company focused on sourcing premium teas directly from artisan growers, beginning the company’s decades-long commitment to direct trade relationships.
January 2000
Direct Trade Partnerships Established
Rishi Tea began developing its signature direct trade approach, establishing partnerships with master tea artisans across China and Japan’s premier tea-growing regions, ensuring fair practices and exceptional quality.
January 2010
Organic Certification and Sustainable Focus
The company expanded its commitment to organic methods and sustainable farming practices, working exclusively with certified organic tea gardens and implementing environmentally responsible sourcing standards.
January 2015
Matcha Expertise Development
Rishi Tea deepened its specialization in traditional matcha cultivation and processing, partnering with Japanese farmers in Kagoshima Prefecture to source premium tencha leaves and develop expertise in the traditional 3-4 week shading process.
January 2020
Garden Direct Program Launch
Launched the Garden Direct program to bring exclusive, super-premium tea cultivars directly from organic farmers, further strengthening direct relationships and ensuring the highest quality single-origin and blended teas reach consumers.
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Frequent questions
Find below some answers to the most common questions about Rishi Tea.
What makes Rishi Tea's Organic Barista Matcha different from their ceremonial grades?
Rishi’s Organic Barista Matcha is specifically crafted for modern culinary applications rather than traditional tea ceremonies. This Kagoshima Prefecture matcha is designed to blend seamlessly into lattes, smoothies, and cafe-style beverages, offering excellent solubility and flavor balance when mixed with milk or other ingredients.
Unlike ceremonial-grade matcha meant for whisking with water alone, this Everyday Matcha formulation maintains its vibrant color and umami characteristics even when combined with dairy or plant-based milks, making it ideal for baristas and home coffee enthusiasts.
Why does Rishi Tea source their Organic Barista Matcha from Kagoshima instead of the more famous Uji region?
Rishi Tea partners with organic tea farmers in Kagoshima Prefecture on Kyushu Island because this region offers exceptional terroir for their specific quality standards. While Uji near Kyoto is historically renowned, Kagoshima’s tea gardens provide the ideal growing conditions for Rishi’s super-premium cultivars harvested exclusively in spring.
Their direct trade relationships with Kagoshima artisans ensure:
- Strict organic cultivation methods
- Traditional 3-4 week shading process
- Sustainable farming practices aligned with Rishi’s values
- Consistent supply of their proprietary matcha blend
How many calories are in Rishi Tea's Organic Barista Matcha serving?
A standard 2-gram serving of Rishi’s Organic Barista Matcha contains just 5 calories, along with 65mg of sodium and 1g of carbohydrates. This makes it an excellent low-calorie base for creating matcha lattes and smoothies without significantly impacting your daily caloric intake.
What does Rishi Tea mean by their 'direct trade' partnerships for matcha sourcing?
Rishi Tea’s direct trade approach means they work directly with master tea artisans in Japan’s tea-growing regions, bypassing traditional middlemen and importers. For their Organic Barista Matcha, this involves long-term partnerships with organic farmers in Kagoshima Prefecture who specialize in the traditional tencha cultivation process.
These relationships ensure fair compensation for growers, maintain quality control from garden to package, and allow Rishi to source exclusive super-premium cultivars that aren’t available through conventional tea trading channels. This direct connection also supports sustainable farming practices and preserves traditional Japanese tea-making techniques.
Can I use Rishi's Organic Barista Matcha for traditional tea ceremonies?
While Rishi’s Organic Barista Matcha is high-quality and organic, it’s specifically formulated as an Everyday Matcha designed for culinary applications rather than traditional chanoyu (tea ceremony). This Kagoshima-sourced matcha excels in lattes, smoothies, and cafe-style preparations where it maintains excellent flavor and color when mixed with other ingredients.
For authentic tea ceremony experiences, you’d want to look for Rishi’s ceremonial-grade options that are stone-ground specifically for whisking with water alone and drinking in the traditional manner.
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