Koicha · First and second harvest blend — formulated for reduced bitterness and superior colour
Hikari
The thick-bowl grade. Shaded, fine-ground, slow.
01thick, glossy, honey-like
02intense umami, no shortcuts
03built for slow sipping
Hikari is koicha — the thick bowl. Four grams to forty millilitres, kneaded rather than whisked, until it pours closer to honey than to tea. That ratio is unforgiving: at ten times the concentration of a thin bowl, every flaw in a lesser powder arrives at once, which is why most bars do not offer koicha at all. Drunk without milk, slowly, usually one bowl and then a pause. The umami fills the whole mouth and stays there a minute after the bowl is empty — closer to an experience than a drink. If you have never had koicha, start with a thin bowl of something else first and come back; this is not the grade to learn on. If you have, this is the one you came for.
Not for
Not for your first ceremonial bowl, and not for milk. Koicha is unforgiving of an imperfect pour if you haven't had ceremonial matcha before — start with Wakaba or Rikyu and work up to this.
Umami
Bitter
Finish
RM 95
30g tin · ships across Malaysia
The batch
Traceable to the field.
Origin
Uji, Kyoto, Japan
Cultivar
Blended — higher-tier selection featuring Yabukita and Okumidori varietals
Harvest
First and second harvest blend — formulated for reduced bitterness and superior colour
Mill
Stone-milled in Uji, Japan. Sealed at origin.
Micronage
12–16 microns
Tin size
30g tin
12–16 microns — coarser than you might expect for a koicha grade, and that's deliberate: too fine at a thick 4g/40ml ratio turns slick instead of glossy.
Fresh, crafted. Never rushed.
Spec last reviewed
Where these numbers come from
- Origin · Cultivar · Harvest
- Per supplier batch sheet from the Uji-region co-op (on file at HULU BLAVK).
- Mill · Micronage
- Uji-milled grades: per the supplier's stone-mill QC log. Ritual 003 line: measured at the HULU BLAVK in-bar mill on the day of grind.
- Brew temperatures and dosage (75°C / 70°C usucha + koicha specs)
- HULU BLAVK in-bar serving recipe, calibrated against the ceremonial-grade preparation conventions the bar pulls from.
- Tasting-note dots (umami / bitter / finish)
- HULU BLAVK in-house cupping panel scored on the supplied batch — re-evaluated each new shipment.
- Price · Tin size
- Price pulled live from the HULU BLAVK shop catalogue (Shopify) at page render. Tin size per retail card current as of GRADES_LAST_REVIEWED.
How this grade is drunk
Pour it like this.
- · Hot koicha (4g · 40ml · 70°C)
- · Slow sip · no milk
Keeping it
How long it holds.
Sealed
Up to 12 months from the mill date printed on the tin, kept cool, dark, and dry.
Opened
2–4 weeks for peak flavour once opened — matcha oxidises on contact with air and light. Reseal tight and keep refrigerated.
The other five
Compare the ladder.
Usucha · entry
Rikyu
The entry bowl. Classical thin-whisk in the most generous tin.
Read →
Daily
Wakaba
Early-summer brightness. Vegetal, quick, everyday.
Read →
Milk-forward
Muyu
The top Uji-sealed tin. Holds its edge under oat and whole milk.
Read →
Fresh-mill signature
Ritual 003
Stone-milled in-bar. The observable ritual in a tin.
Read →
Fresh-mill · competition grade
Ritual 003 Champion
Champion-tier tencha, stone-milled in-bar for the reserve bowl.
Read →
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