Kanbayashi Shunsho

The Kanbayashi family has been producing tea in Uji for over 450 years, making them one of the oldest continuously operating tea houses in Japan. Their lineage traces back to the late Muromachi period (1336-1573), when the Ashikaga Shogunate designated seven tea gardens in Uji as the finest in Japan. The Kanbayashi family managed one of these prestigious gardens, establishing their reputation for exceptional quality that continues today. Throughout the Edo period, they served as tea purveyors to the shogunate and nobility. This centuries-old heritage is not merely historical—each generation of Kanbayashi tea masters has refined and preserved traditional techniques while maintaining the family's uncompromising standards. Today, their matcha remains the choice of tea ceremony grand masters and is used in the most formal tea gatherings.

Kanbayashi Shunsho splits its matcha into two ladders: usucha grades from Matsu no Shiro up to Gokumukashi, and koicha grades from Matsukazemukashi up to Hatsumukashi. Sazen Tea, which imports the range, describes the mid-tier usucha Biwa no Shiro as sweet, nutty and silky, with a long nutty aftertaste, and mellower and richer in umami than Mozumukashi, the grade below it. Moving up either ladder buys more umami and sweetness and less bitterness, which is what lets the koicha grades stay smooth when whisked thick.