Everything worth asking first.
Grades, freshness, shipping, and trade terms — answered by the people who imported the tea. If your question isn't here, write to us.
Grades & quality
What the words on the label actually mean.
5 questions
- What's the difference between ceremonial and café-grade matcha?
- Ceremonial matcha is milled from the youngest first-flush leaves, stone-ground fine enough to drink whisked with water alone — sweet, low in astringency, and delicate. Café grade is selected to survive milk, ice, and sugar: a bolder, more assertive cup that still reads as matcha at the bottom of a 12 oz latte. Neither term is regulated in Japan, so treat them as descriptions of intended use rather than a quality certificate. What matters is the leaf, the mill, and the harvest — all of which we publish on each lot page.
- Is 'culinary grade' the same as café grade?
- It's the same tier of intended use, but we don't use the word. 'Culinary' has drifted to mean the cheapest bulk powder on a shelf, often late-harvest and bitter. Our Café Matcha is chosen specifically to hold its sweetness under milk, which is a different sourcing decision than buying the lowest-cost tea that technically qualifies as matcha.
- Is your matcha organic?
- Kakegawa Reserve is organically grown. Café Matcha and Kagoshima Signature are grown to producer-specific standards without organic certification. We don't display certification marks we can't substantiate — if a lot isn't certified, we say so rather than implying it.
- How do I read the cup profile on a product page?
- Each lot shows three meters — astringency, body, and sweetness — taken from the producer's own cupping sheet. Higher astringency means more of that green, drying edge; higher body means it carries milk without disappearing; higher sweetness means more umami and natural sugar up front. Use them to match a lot to your service style, not to rank the teas against each other.
- What is a 'lot' and why does the number matter?
- A lot is one specific batch from one producer and one harvest. When it's gone, the next batch tastes slightly different, because tea is agriculture. Numbering each lot lets us tell you exactly what you're drinking and lets a café reorder the same tea rather than a rotating house blend.
Freshness & storage
Matcha is perishable. Here's how we handle that.
4 questions
- How fresh is your matcha?
- Every lot carries a harvest date and we import current-season harvests. Stock is rotated so you're never sent last year's crop as new. Matcha oxidizes on contact with air, heat, and light — it dulls from vivid green to olive and loses its sweetness — so freshness is not a marketing point, it's the whole product.
- How should I store it once it arrives?
- Sealed, cold, and dark. Unopened packages keep for months in the refrigerator. Once opened, use within 4–6 weeks for peak flavor and keep the tin closed between uses. Let a cold tin come to room temperature before opening so condensation doesn't clump the powder.
- How do you store it before it ships?
- Cold-stored and sealed on arrival at our Orlando facility, then pulled to order. Nothing sits on a warm shelf waiting for a purchase order.
- Should I sift it?
- Yes, for whisked preparations. Matcha compacts in transit and a fine sieve breaks up the clumps that otherwise show up as floating specks. For high-volume café work, a shaker bottle or blender does the same job faster — see the brewing guide for the café workflow.
Orders & shipping
Where it ships from and when it lands.
5 questions
- Where do you ship from and how long does it take?
- Every order ships from Orlando, Florida. Orders placed on business days are typically packed within one business day, with domestic transit of 2–4 business days after that.
- How much does shipping cost?
- U.S. shipping is a flat $5.95 per order. Orders over $50 ship free — which most two-tin orders clear.
- Do you ship internationally?
- Not at this time. We ship within the United States only, so we can guarantee cold-chain handling and transit times we can actually stand behind.
- What if my matcha doesn't taste right?
- Email us within 72 hours of delivery with your order number and photos of the package and powder. If a lot arrived with a clear defect, we replace it or refund the item under our freshness guarantee. See the returns page for the full terms.
- Can I order a sample before committing?
- The 30 g tin is the sample. It's the smallest retail format we carry and it's enough to run a lot through your full menu — whisked, latte, and iced — before you order kilos of it.
Wholesale & trade
For cafés, bakeries, and hospitality programs.
5 questions
- Do you offer wholesale pricing?
- Yes. Volume pricing opens at 5 kg per order, with tiers up through multi-location supply. Submit the trade form on the wholesale page and we reply within one business day with pricing and a lot recommendation for your program.
- What formats do wholesale orders ship in?
- Bulk orders ship in sealed high-barrier 1 kg foil bags rather than tins — tins are a retail format and a poor fit for a bar pulling a kilo a week. A 5 kg order arrives as five sealed 1 kg bags so you only open what you're working through.
- Will the lot stay consistent between restocks?
- That's the point of holding allocation. We reserve inventory from the same harvest for standing accounts so your matcha latte tastes the same in July as it did in April. When a lot is genuinely running out, we tell you before it does and cup the replacement with you.
- How much matcha does a café go through?
- At a 2 g dose, one kilogram is roughly 500 drinks. A single bar doing 20 matcha drinks a day moves about 1.2 kg a month. Use that to size your first order, then adjust once you see the actual pull.
- How many servings are in a 30 g tin?
- About 15 servings at a standard 2 g dose, or 12 at a heavier 2.5 g ceremonial dose.
Sourcing & the company
Who we are and where the tea comes from.
4 questions
- Where does your matcha come from?
- Directly from producers in Kagoshima and Kakegawa, Shizuoka, Japan. Each lot is cupped and vetted before it ships to our Florida cold storage. Nothing is white-labeled or repacked from an anonymous broker.
- Are you a brand or an importer?
- An importer. We buy specific lots from named producers and supply them under our own handling standards — which is why the site talks about harvests and mills rather than a lifestyle story.
- Why don't you carry more than three lots?
- Because a fourth lot would mean either holding stock long enough to go dull or buying something we don't think is better than what we already carry. Three covers café service, everyday whisking, and the top of the ceremonial range.
- How do I reach a person?
- Email us — trade@sunhousematcha.com for wholesale and account questions, or use the contact page for order support. Replies come from the people who imported the tea.
Still open
Ask us directly.
Trade pricing and account questions go to trade@sunhousematcha.com. For order support, use the contact page. If you're deciding between lots, the brewing guide covers dosing, water temperature, and troubleshooting in detail.
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Shop current lots Find your lot.
Compare cup profiles, formats, and pricing for our three current Japanese matchas.