About Breakaway Matcha

The year was 2010, and founder Eric Gower was thinking about a particular bowl of matcha he had long ago sipped on a farm outside of Kyoto, Japan. That experience was nothing short of transcendental: the tea was creamy, almost chewy, and it was full of so many new and enchanting flavors and created such a delightful wakefulness that the experience stuck with him more than 20 years later.  Eric tried hundreds of different matcha over the years, but none ever quite replicated that one experience.

Eric was especially frustrated with the quality of the matcha available outside Japan, most of which is actually "culinary" matcha, i.e. matcha meant for cooking, for green tea ice cream, smoothies, confections of all kinds. Most of this is very low quality, and not meant for drinking, yet it is often sold as an epicurean, healthful product. The difference between culinary matcha and artisanal matcha is every bit as stark as that between cooking wine and world-class wine.

But where was all the great matcha? Eric knew it existed. Somewhere in Japan, but where?

So he set off to find it. He did eventually find it, but not by relying on matcha specialists or tea schools or tea teachers, most of whom are associated with certain brands. He did so by relying solely on palate, through an exhaustive series of blind taste tests.

Eric tracked down all of the well-known makers first, and then set about finding the lesser-known ones, asking all to send him only their finest, their very top grade. After about a year of tastings, three producers were chosen, and each were requested to make a custom blend specially for Breakaway Matcha. These became Blends 94, 97, and 100. We couldn't be happier with these teas; they all replicate and even exceed that first matcha epiphany.

The original idea was to create a place that offered the absolute best artisanal matcha in the world. Somebody had to do it.

Unlike just about every tea company on earth, Breakaway Matcha specializes in just one type of tea: matcha. And even within matcha, we continue to specialize: we only offer hyperpremium drinking matcha -- no culinary matcha here at all, only the very best of the best. There is no higher quality matcha in Japan's domestic market, nor in the global market. You have found it.

So here is the vision:

• One day, demand for artisanal matcha will begin to approach that of artisanal coffee, once people discover how good it is (and how good it is for you). Artisanal matcha will do for green tea what espresso did for coffee.
• People looking for a transcendental matcha experience will buy from a trusted source that has the very best matcha and the very best service.
• Breakaway Matcha will be that trusted source.

We aim to WOW you through our matcha and our ceramics, through our customer service, and through creating outstanding client experiences. We strive to be an organization that's human, respectful, transparent, inclusive, and socially and environmentally conscious. We adore our products, and think you will, too.

Eric personally welcomes you into the sublime world of hyperpremium matcha, and is happy to answer any and all questions you might have. You can email him at eric (at) breakawaymatcha.com. If you happen to be in the San Francisco Bay Area and would like to personally sample our matcha, we would be honored to have a cup with you at our San Anselmo office. Just write and we'll arrange a visit.