Ryogochi Okuyutaka is a single cultivar matcha from Jiro Katahira, a farmer in the Ryogochi mountains of Shizuoka who grows over 22 tea cultivars, sold by Kettl, the tea company Zach and Minami started in Brooklyn and now in its 15th year.
Kettl names the producer, area and year on every matcha, and recommends this one, 2026 production in a 20 g tin, as usucha or sparkling matcha.
Kettl is one of the few American tea companies with its own office in Japan. Its story page says Zach and his wife Minami started it, that it is now in its 15th year, and that tea is sent by air from its Fukuoka office straight to its Brooklyn warehouse. It runs shops in Greenpoint, including a dedicated matcha shop on Norman Avenue, and in Los Feliz in Los Angeles. Kettl describes its catalogue as the most diverse of Japanese tea available outside Japan. What makes it useful to anyone learning matcha is how much it tells you. Every matcha page gives a producer, a production area and a production year.
Jiro Katahira and Ryogochi
Ryogochi is a mountain tea area in Shizuoka, far up the valleys from the big flat sencha fields near the coast. Kettl's Ryogochi Okuyutaka page introduces Jiro Katahira, who grows over 22 distinct cultivars, and calls this matcha the first release from his new project. Most tea farms grow a few cultivars at most. A grower with more than twenty is the kind of farmer who makes single cultivar matcha interesting, because the same hillside, the same hands and the same year can show what each plant does.
Okuyutaka itself is an uncommon choice for matcha. Kettl's page says it was registered in 1983 by the Kanaya tea research centre in Shizuoka. Kettl lists the production year as 2026, sells it in 20 gram tins at $40, and recommends it as usucha or as sparkling matcha, which says something about its brightness. A sibling, Ryogochi Okumidori from the same project, was out of stock when we read the page.
| Matcha | Producer | Area | Kettl recommends |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ryogochi Okuyutaka | Jiro Katahira | Ryogochi, Shizuoka | Usucha or sparkling |
| Gokasho Organic Uji Hikari | Yoshitsugu and Mizuho Furukawa | Gokasho, Uji | Koicha |
| Hibiki | Shinya Yamaguchi | Hoshinomura, Yame | Koicha |
The Furukawas in Gokasho
Kettl's other headline producers are Yoshitsugu and Mizuho Furukawa in Gokasho, one of the old tea villages of Uji. Their Gokasho Organic Uji Hikari uses Uji Hikari, a cultivar named for the area, and Kettl notes that in 2025 their teas placed first overall at both the regional Kansai tea fair and the national tea fair. For koicha Kettl gives 4 grams of matcha to 30 to 35 ml of water at about 180°F.
Making the Okuyutaka
For usucha, Kettl gives 2 grams with 65 ml of water at about 180°F. For a cold version, 2 grams shaken in a bottle with 200 ml of cold filtered water. That cold method is a good way to taste a bright cultivar, because cold water keeps bitterness down and lets the fresh, green notes come forward. More on the plant itself is in our piece on what single cultivar means on a tin.
Questions
Who makes Kettl's Ryogochi Okuyutaka?
Jiro Katahira, in Ryogochi, Shizuoka. Kettl says he grows over 22 distinct cultivars and calls this matcha the first release from his new project.
What is Okuyutaka?
A Japanese tea cultivar registered in 1983 by the Kanaya tea research centre in Shizuoka, according to Kettl's page. It is uncommon as a single cultivar matcha.
Who is behind Kettl?
Zach and his wife Minami, who started Kettl and run it from Brooklyn and an office in Fukuoka, with shops in Greenpoint and Los Feliz.
How does Kettl say to make it?
2 g with 65 ml of water at about 180°F as usucha, or 2 g shaken with 200 ml of cold filtered water as sparkling or cold matcha.
