Where does HULU BLAVK source its matcha?

Every HULU BLAVK ceremonial grade is sourced from named farms in the Uji region of Kyoto, Japan. Wakaba and Hikari come from a single plot in Wazuka village. Muyu and Rikyu come from a single plot in Ujitawara village. The Ritual 003 and Ritual 003 Champion grades are whole-leaf tencha from Wazuka, stone-milled at our bar in Bukit Damansara on the day you drink them. We do not source from any Japanese region outside Uji.

Why does HULU BLAVK only source from Uji?

Uji has the longest unbroken stone-mill tradition in the world, dating to the 13th century, and the ceremonial-grade tencha cultivars cluster more tightly in Uji than in any other Japanese tea region. Other regions like Shizuoka and Kagoshima grow excellent green tea, but ceremonial-grade matcha production benefits from Uji's combination of plant genetics, mill craft, and supply consistency. A single-region focus makes our small bar's story coherent and our supply chain auditable.

What is the difference between Wazuka and Ujitawara matcha?

Wazuka village sits inland in the Uji tea belt, where shading is steepest and umami runs highest. Ujitawara village is closer to the river, with a slightly milder profile and slightly lower cost per kilo. Our Wakaba and Hikari grades come from Wazuka because they need that umami density. Muyu and Rikyu come from Ujitawara because the milder profile suits a milk-forward latte (Muyu) and a long-finish thin-whisk usucha (Rikyu).

Does HULU BLAVK blend matcha from different farms?

No. Every grade on our menu is sourced from a single farm. We do not blend across farms or across regions. If a single farm's harvest underperforms in a given season, that grade changes — we do not paper over it with leaves from elsewhere. The trade-off is volatility on the bar; the benefit is that what arrives in your bowl is the leaf the farmer actually intended.

How many farms does HULU BLAVK source from?

Four farms, across two Uji villages — Wazuka and Ujitawara. Wakaba, Hikari, and the Ritual 003 line come from Wazuka (across two distinct plots). Muyu and the Rikyu reserve come from a single Ujitawara plot. The provenance of every tin traces to a specific co-op number on the supplier batch sheet on file at the bar.

Why did HULU BLAVK choose Uji over Shizuoka or Kagoshima?

All three regions produce world-class Japanese green tea, but Uji is the historical and technical centre of ceremonial-grade matcha. Stone-mill craft, tencha cultivar selection, and shade-grown agronomy converge in Uji in a way they do not converge in Shizuoka or Kagoshima. For a single-bar story focused on ceremonial-grade preparation, sourcing exclusively from Uji was the cleaner choice. Shizuoka excels at sencha and gyokuro; Kagoshima excels at culinary and beverage-grade matcha; Uji excels at the bowl.

Sourcing · 6 min read · 2026-04-20 · Updated 2026-05-03

How we chose Uji.

Uji is to ceremonial matcha what Champagne is to sparkling wine — a region-specific tradition that carries craft in the same breath as terroir. The shaded tencha plots in the hills around Kyoto have been growing leaves for thick-bowl koicha and thin-whisk usucha since the 13th century. When the question was which Japanese region would supply HULU BLAVK, the answer was structural before it was sensory: Uji has the longest unbroken stone-mill tradition in the world, and ceremonial-grade tencha needs both the plant genetics and the milling discipline to land in the bowl correctly.

We made four trips between 2024 and 2026. Six farms, all in the Uji region. Three in Wazuka village — the inland tea-belt where shading is steepest and umami runs highest. Two in Ujitawara — closer to the river, slightly milder profile, slightly cheaper. One in Kosobe just south of Kyoto city, which we ultimately did not buy from. The format every visit was the same: cup the entire grade ladder of the farm, rate against our existing benchmark sample from a Kyoto reserve tea house, and ask the same five questions about supply consistency, succession plans, and how the farm thinks about ball-mills.

What we left with was an unconventional decision: one farm per HULU BLAVK grade. Not a blend across farms, not a house style that smooths over a bad batch by mixing in a good one. If Wakaba sources from one Wazuka plot, that is the only plot Wakaba is. If next year's harvest from that plot underperforms, Wakaba changes — we do not paper over it. The cost of this rule is volatility on the bar; the upside is that what arrives in the bowl is actually the leaf the farmer intended, not the average of three farmers' opinions.

Wakaba and Hikari come from Wazuka village. Muyu and the Rikyu reserve come from a single Ujitawara plot. The Ritual 003 line is whole-leaf tencha sourced from Wazuka and stone-milled at our bar in Bukit Damansara — same farm as Wakaba, different finish. Two villages, four farms, six grades. The full provenance of every tin we sell traces to a specific co-op number on the supplier batch sheet, and the supplier batch sheet is on file for inspection at the bar.

We did not buy from Shizuoka, Kagoshima, or Mie. All three regions grow excellent Japanese green tea — Shizuoka especially produces remarkable sencha and gyokuro — but the ceremonial-grade tencha cultivars and the stone-mill tradition cluster more tightly in Uji than anywhere else. A single-region focus makes a small bar's story coherent. We chose to be a Uji-only matcha bar in Kuala Lumpur rather than a Japan-wide tea bar. The narrower the choice, the deeper we can go.

What this means at the bar: the four Uji-milled grades — Wakaba, Muyu, Rikyu, Hikari — arrive sealed in the same tins the farmers ship to Kyoto reserve tea houses. We open them at the counter. The two Ritual 003 grades sit whole until your five minutes begin. Either path, the story ends the same way: tencha leaf from a single farm in Uji, stone-milled, whisked, poured. Original state. No shortcuts.

Questions, answered.

Where does HULU BLAVK source its matcha?: Every HULU BLAVK ceremonial grade is sourced from named farms in the Uji region of Kyoto, Japan. Wakaba and Hikari come from a single plot in Wazuka village. Muyu and Rikyu come from a single plot in Ujitawara village. The Ritual 003 and Ritual 003 Champion grades are whole-leaf tencha from Wazuka, stone-milled at our bar in Bukit Damansara on the day you drink them. We do not source from any Japanese region outside Uji.
Why does HULU BLAVK only source from Uji?: Uji has the longest unbroken stone-mill tradition in the world, dating to the 13th century, and the ceremonial-grade tencha cultivars cluster more tightly in Uji than in any other Japanese tea region. Other regions like Shizuoka and Kagoshima grow excellent green tea, but ceremonial-grade matcha production benefits from Uji's combination of plant genetics, mill craft, and supply consistency. A single-region focus makes our small bar's story coherent and our supply chain auditable.
What is the difference between Wazuka and Ujitawara matcha?: Wazuka village sits inland in the Uji tea belt, where shading is steepest and umami runs highest. Ujitawara village is closer to the river, with a slightly milder profile and slightly lower cost per kilo. Our Wakaba and Hikari grades come from Wazuka because they need that umami density. Muyu and Rikyu come from Ujitawara because the milder profile suits a milk-forward latte (Muyu) and a long-finish thin-whisk usucha (Rikyu).
Does HULU BLAVK blend matcha from different farms?: No. Every grade on our menu is sourced from a single farm. We do not blend across farms or across regions. If a single farm's harvest underperforms in a given season, that grade changes — we do not paper over it with leaves from elsewhere. The trade-off is volatility on the bar; the benefit is that what arrives in your bowl is the leaf the farmer actually intended.
How many farms does HULU BLAVK source from?: Four farms, across two Uji villages — Wazuka and Ujitawara. Wakaba, Hikari, and the Ritual 003 line come from Wazuka (across two distinct plots). Muyu and the Rikyu reserve come from a single Ujitawara plot. The provenance of every tin traces to a specific co-op number on the supplier batch sheet on file at the bar.
Why did HULU BLAVK choose Uji over Shizuoka or Kagoshima?: All three regions produce world-class Japanese green tea, but Uji is the historical and technical centre of ceremonial-grade matcha. Stone-mill craft, tencha cultivar selection, and shade-grown agronomy converge in Uji in a way they do not converge in Shizuoka or Kagoshima. For a single-bar story focused on ceremonial-grade preparation, sourcing exclusively from Uji was the cleaner choice. Shizuoka excels at sencha and gyokuro; Kagoshima excels at culinary and beverage-grade matcha; Uji excels at the bowl.

Where these numbers come from

Trip count (4) and farms cupped (6): HULU BLAVK sourcing log 2024–2026, with cupping notes from each visit. Pre-launch survey work; logs available on request at the bar.
Village split (Wazuka × 3 farms · Ujitawara × 2 farms · Kosobe × 1 farm cupped not bought): Per supplier batch sheets and HULU BLAVK trip notebooks. Final supply: 3 farms in Wazuka, 1 farm in Ujitawara across 4 ceremonial grades + 2 Ritual 003 grades.
Uji ceremonial tea tradition (~13th century): Documented in standard Japanese tea histories — the Uji municipality and the Uji Tea Cooperative both publish background on the region's ceremonial tradition.
Single-farm-per-grade sourcing policy: HULU BLAVK procurement policy. Trade-off chosen by the owner before the bar opened — auditable on the batch-sheet ledger.

Original state. No shortcuts.