Breakaway Matcha is a San Anselmo, California company founded by Eric Gower, who spent 16 years in Japan as an author, editor, private chef and cooking teacher and opened Breakaway in 2010.
Its matchas are blends of tencha from farmers' co-ops in Uji, Nishio and Kagoshima, graded on 18 grades Breakaway set itself, from the Hyperpremium Organic from a Kagoshima co-op up to honzu-shaded Uji blends such as Jizo.
Breakaway Matcha is the work of Eric Gower, who lived in Japan for sixteen years as an author, editor, private chef and cooking teacher before he started selling matcha in 2010. The company is in San Anselmo, California. Its about page calls Breakaway "a kind of concierge to great matcha", and its catalogue reads like a chef's. Tasting notes run to drawn butter, pureed asparagus and spring baby vegetables. Its earliest clients, it says on the Hyperpremium Organic page, included The French Laundry, Benu, Atelier Crenn and Single Thread.
Blends, on purpose
Many small American importers sell single farm or single cultivar matcha and name the farmer. Breakaway does not, and it explains why. Its FAQ says Japanese tea farmers typically work through agricultural co-ops, so Breakaway blends tencha from different terroir into its own signature blends. Its why us page names the regions as Uji, Nishio and Kagoshima. It says many of the farmers have farmed for 20 or more generations and do not have websites. It also mixes new-harvest leaf with leaf from previous harvests, which is how the old Kyoto houses keep a house taste steady from year to year. Breakaway grades everything on 18 grades of its own.
| Matcha | Origin (Breakaway's words) | 30 g price | Breakaway's tasting notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hyperpremium Organic | A Kagoshima (Kyushu) co-op | $64 | Big umami, electric colour, rich creamy sweetness |
| Blend Kamakura | Ujitawara, Kyoto | from $125 | Notes of raw cacao nibs |
| Blend Jizo | Gokasho, Uji, honzu-shaded | $179 | Chocolatey first, then spring vegetables and fresh herbs |
| Blend Daphne | Ogura, Uji | from $219 | Drawn butter and pureed asparagus |
The organic one, and an honest line about organic
The Hyperpremium Organic took the longest to find. Breakaway says it hunted all over Japan for four years before an organic matcha met its bar, and found it at a co-op in Kagoshima, the southern prefecture that now grows more tencha than anywhere else in Japan. What makes Breakaway's writing on it unusual is how plain it is about organic in general. Its article on organic versus conventional matcha says, "Organic is a farming claim, not a quality grade." Organic growers cannot use the quick nitrogen that feeds theanine in the leaf, and theanine is where much of matcha's savoury depth comes from. Finding an organic tencha with real umami is hard, which is why the search took four years.
Jizo and honzu shade
At the other end of the range, Blend Jizo comes from Gokasho in Uji. Breakaway says it is shaded with the classic honzu method, reeds and straw over the bushes, picked by hand once a year in early May and 100% stone ground. It is fertilised with ground sardine, herring and beef bones, an old way of feeding tea. Its production guide says Breakaway's tea is shaded for roughly six weeks before harvest, and that grinding on granite takes more than an hour for 30 grams.
How Eric Gower makes it
Breakaway's tutorial keeps preparation simple. Sift about a gram, add about 2 ounces of water at 160 to 175°F, and froth it. It is a chef's approach, and a useful reminder that good matcha does not need a ceremony to be enjoyed. Breakaway also asks a question we like on the Hyperpremium page: "Is 'ceremonial' matcha somehow better? Is it even real?" We looked at that in what ceremonial grade matcha means.
Questions
Where does Breakaway Matcha come from?
From farmers' co-ops in Uji, Nishio and Kagoshima. Breakaway says many of its farmers have farmed for 20 or more generations and do not have websites, so it names regions rather than farms.
Is Breakaway matcha single origin?
No, and it says so. It blends tencha from different places, and new-harvest leaf with older harvests, to build its own house blends.
What is Breakaway's Hyperpremium Organic?
An organic matcha from a Kagoshima co-op that Breakaway says it hunted for four years to find. It sells 30 g for $64 and describes it as big umami, electric colour and rich creamy sweetness.
How does Breakaway say to prepare it?
Sift 1 gram or more, add about 2 ounces of water at 160 to 175°F, and froth it. Its house style favours a frother and tumbler as well as a bamboo whisk.
