Raku Matcha in British Vogue

It started in a tea house in Kyoto

Raku Matcha began on a trip to Japan. Our founder, Moumen, came across a small family-run tea house in Kyoto with nearly two centuries behind it, and the family invited him in to try their matcha.

It was nothing like anything I'd had at home. I knew straight away it was too good not to share with the world.

Moumen, founder of Raku Matcha

Our ceremonial matcha still comes from Kyoto, from a tea house that has been making matcha for nearly two centuries. Their tea appraisers judge every batch by eye and by hand, for colour, fragrance and depth, and blend the best first-harvest tencha so the matcha tastes the same from one tin to the next. The leaves are shaded for around three weeks before picking, which deepens the green and brings out the sweetness. The tea is then milled in Uji in small batches each month.

Not everything comes from Kyoto. Okumidori, our single-cultivar matcha, comes direct from a family farm in Yame, Fukuoka, that has grown award-winning tea for generations. There's more on it in what is Okumidori matcha.

Why we pack every tin in London

Matcha is at its best soon after it's milled. From then on, air, light, heat and moisture slowly dull the colour and the sweetness. A tin that has spent months in a warehouse or on a shop shelf can taste flat, and often more bitter.

So we don't buy pre-packed tins. The matcha is flown to our studio in East London, where every tin is weighed, filled and sealed by hand the week it's sold. Orders leave within 48 hours. The longer version, with the science, is in why matcha fades.

The teas

• Hikari: smooth, naturally sweet and high in umami. Our most popular matcha, and the one to start with.
• Shōgun: deeper and bolder, with a nuttiness that holds up in milk. The one for lattes.
• Okumidori: single-cultivar matcha from Yame. Very nutty, with a toasted sesame finish and no bitterness.
• Hōjicha: first-harvest leaves slow-roasted to a deep amber, then milled. Toasty and mellow, and low in caffeine, so it works in the evening.

We also sell what you need to make it: bamboo whisks, sifters and scoops, and hand-thrown Kiyomizu ware bowls from T. Nishikawa & Co. in Kyoto.

Where to find the November issue

The November 2026 issue of British Vogue is on sale from 20 October at newsagents and supermarkets across the UK. Look for The Luxe List. The digital edition in the British Vogue app carries the same pages, so you'll find us there too.

The Luxe List runs in the magazine rather than on vogue.co.uk, so there isn't a page of ours on the Vogue website.

New to Raku Matcha?

Start with Hikari. Sift 3g into a bowl, add 48ml of water at 80°C and whisk in a quick W or M motion for about twenty seconds, until the top is covered in a fine froth. A 30g tin is about ten servings. The full method is in how to make matcha, and the Starter Kit has a tin of Hikari with the whisk, sifter and scoop.

If you'd like to taste it first, Raku Matcha Hikari is served at The mvmnt club in Peckham, Pour on Fleet Place in the City of London, Vivace in Birmingham and Açaí Social Club in Leeds. Addresses are on our Find us page.

And if you'd like to hear from other customers first, Raku Matcha has a 4.9 average from 226 verified reviews. You can read every one on our reviews page.

Questions people ask