first harvest appears on plenty of matcha tins, including ours. it sounds fairly self-explanatory, but there is a little more behind it than “picked first”.
the short version is that first-harvest tea is made from the first new growth collected after the tea plants have rested through winter. in japan, this is also called ichibancha.
the precise timing changes with the region, cultivar, weather and altitude, but it usually takes place during spring. later growth can be harvested again as second or third harvest tea.
so why is the first harvest usually the one people get excited about?
the tea plant has had time to rest
after the final harvest of the previous year, the tea plant spends the colder months storing nutrients. when it begins growing again in spring, that stored energy goes into its first new shoots.
these young leaves tend to be tender and can contain relatively high levels of amino acids associated with sweetness and umami. later harvests grow in warmer, brighter conditions and commonly develop more pronounced bitterness and astringency.
that does not make later harvests useless. they can work very well in baking, ice cream and other recipes where the matcha has to compete with several ingredients. they simply tend to produce a different kind of flavour.
first harvest is only one part of the story
first harvest can be a useful sign, but it is not a complete quality grade.
two first-harvest matchas can still taste entirely different. one might be soft, creamy and nutty, while another is fresher, deeper or more vegetal.
the final flavour also depends on:
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the cultivar or blend of cultivars
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the field and growing conditions
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the region and altitude
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how and when the plants were shaded
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the exact point at which the leaves were harvested
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how the leaves were steamed and dried
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how the tencha was sorted and milled
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how the finished matcha was packed and stored
if you are unfamiliar with cultivars, our guide to what a matcha cultivar actually is is a good place to start. we also have a separate guide to how growing regions can affect matcha flavour.
it does not automatically mean hand-picked
first harvest describes when the leaves were collected, not how they were collected.
the leaves may be hand-picked or harvested by machine. hand-picking allows for very selective harvesting, but carefully managed machine harvesting can also produce excellent tea. the method has to be considered alongside the field, leaves, producer and final result.
the same applies to words such as stone-milled, single-origin and single-cultivar. they tell you something real, but none of them can judge the entire matcha on their own.
this is also why we do not rely on broad labels such as ceremonial grade. you can read more about that in why we don’t call our matcha ceremonial grade.
does first harvest always taste better?
not automatically.
a poorly processed or badly stored first-harvest matcha can still taste flat, harsh or stale. a well-made later-harvest tea can be much better suited to a particular recipe than an unimpressive first-harvest one.
taste also depends on what you enjoy. a very soft matcha is not necessarily better than one with more depth or freshness. it is simply different.
we see first harvest as useful information, not a magic phrase. it helps explain how a matcha was made, but it should sit beside details about its cultivar, origin, flavour and production.
that is the information that gives you a real idea of what you are about to open.
you can find the harvest and flavour information for each of our matchas in the sumi collection.