How Is Red Matcha Powder Made?

Our red matcha is a matcha-style black tea made from the Benifūki cultivar in Kagoshima, Japan.

But calling it "black tea powder" would miss the point entirely. This isn't simply black tea ground up and packaged. It's the result of innovation, and a willingness to bridge two tea traditions that don't usually meet.

The production process is what makes it truly unique. Let's walk through how it's made.

From Black Tea to Tencha

To understand what makes red matcha special, we need to start with how black tea is typically made.

Traditional black tea goes through full oxidation, which creates its characteristic dark color and robust, malty flavor. The leaves are withered, rolled, and left to oxidize completely before being dried. This process gives black tea its bold personality.

Red matcha starts with Benifūki black tea leaves but follows a completely different path.

Instead of standard black tea processing, the tea farm developed a special method to transform these leaves into tencha. Tencha is the same base leaf used for traditional green matcha: shade-grown, carefully stemmed, and de-veined to create a smooth, fine powder.

This transformation is the key innovation. Adapting tencha production methods (typically reserved for green tea) to black tea leaves is no small feat.

Black tea and green tea have fundamentally different processing requirements. One embraces oxidation, the other prevents it entirely. The process requires precise control to maintain black tea's characteristic depth and complexity while achieving the silky texture that defines matcha.

The Art of Stone Milling

Once the tencha is created, it's stone-milled the traditional way.

This step might sound straightforward, but it's where the magic really happens. Stone milling creates an exceptionally fine, smooth powder that's worlds apart from simply grinding black tea in a spice grinder.

The slow, cool grinding process preserves delicate flavor compounds and aromatic oils that would otherwise be lost to heat or friction. This fine texture is what allows red matcha to froth up and create that light, airy quality when whisked.

The milling process affects both mouthfeel and flavor release. You get that smooth, velvety texture on your tongue, and the flavors unfold gradually rather than hitting all at once. It's the difference between sipping something and experiencing it.

How This Process Creates Something Special

Because you consume the whole leaf rather than just brewed water, the flavors are more concentrated and layered. Every sip carries more depth.

The tencha process preserves umami-rich qualities typically found in green matcha, creating a savory backbone that regular black tea doesn't have.

When you whisk it, you get that foam, that creaminess, that satisfying resistance. The result is deep cacao notes with hints of sweetness that taste like dark chocolate and freshly baked bread. Warm, comforting, but never heavy.

Kōyō Red Matcha is naturally richer and fuller than regular black tea, even when you use less powder. A little goes a long way.

The combination of black tea's boldness with matcha's texture is what makes this unlike anything else. It's familiar but entirely new at the same time.