Fresh-mill · competition grade · First harvest · spring flush
Ritual 003 Champion
Champion-tier tencha, stone-milled in-bar for the reserve bowl.
01the deepest pour on the card
02reserved-bowl intensity
03milled fresh, same as Ritual 003
Champion is the reserve pour of the fresh-mill programme — competition-grade tencha, whole-leaf at delivery, milled on-site the day you drink it. What separates it from Ritual 003 is allocation rather than method: both are ground the same morning, to the same fineness, at the same low temperature. There is a limited amount each day and when it is gone it is gone, which is also why we have never wholesaled it and do not intend to. Drunk straight, usually as koicha, usually alone. This is the bowl to order when you have somewhere to sit and nowhere to be — not the one to add milk to, and not the one to drink in a hurry.
Not for
Not for milk drinks, and not something we wholesale — this is the reserve pour, drunk straight, kept bar-only.
Umami
Bitter
Finish
RM 249
30g tin · ships across Malaysia
The batch
Traceable to the field.
This grade's leaf sheet is being re-issued. The origin, cultivar and harvest below are the last figures we verified (2026-08-12) and may change — we'd rather show you that than publish a number we can't stand behind.
Origin
Uji, Kyoto, Japan
Cultivar
Blended — artisanal blend led by Yabukita, Okumidori and Sayamakaori varietals
Harvest
First harvest · spring flush
Mill
Stone-milled in-bar, same day. Milled slowly at low temperature to hold the volatile aromatics.
Micronage
5–10 microns
Tin size
30g tin
5–10 microns, matching Ritual 003 — both are milled fresh, same day, to the same fine grind, even though the leaf itself is not the same (see the provisional note above).
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.
- · In-bar koicha
- · Ceremonial pour · no milk
Keeping it
How long it holds.
Sealed
The take-home tin is sealed right after milling — best within 2–4 weeks of that mill date.
Opened
Same rule as any ceremonial grade once opened — airtight, refrigerated, away from light — and drink it sooner rather than later.
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 →
Koicha
Hikari
The thick-bowl grade. Shaded, fine-ground, slow.
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 →
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