A-Grade Uji Matcha in Brooklyn.
Uji, Kyoto is Japan's most prestigious matcha region, where the tea ceremony began 800 years ago. A-Grade is the top classification. Café Mia in Bushwick serves it as our house standard.
Uji matcha is the most prestigious matcha in the world. Grown in Uji, Kyoto, Japan's oldest and most respected matcha region since the 12th century, it's what Japanese tea masters have used for the tea ceremony for over 800 years. A-Grade denotes the top single-origin classification within Uji. It's what we use at Café Mia, and it's the reason our matcha tastes like real tea instead of like a green-flavored drink.
What makes Uji matcha special
Uji sits in the hills south of Kyoto. The region's specific combination of morning fog, humidity, calcium-rich soil, and a 800-year cultivation tradition produces tea leaves that no other Japanese region has fully replicated. When you shade-grow those leaves for 3–4 weeks before picking (as ceremonial-grade matcha requires), then stone-grind them to powder, you get a matcha with three qualities that generic ceremonial matcha lacks:
- Umami depth. A savory, brothy quality that sits underneath the sweetness. This is what makes Uji matcha taste like a serious tea rather than a light powdered green drink.
- Long finish. After you sip, the flavor keeps developing for 20–30 seconds. Generic ceremonial matcha finishes short.
- No astringency. The A-grade classification means the leaves are the youngest, most tender picks — no bitterness even when whisked strong.
What "A-Grade" means
Within Uji itself, matcha is graded by leaf quality and processing precision:
- A-Grade (top): First-harvest, top-pick shade-grown leaves. Used for chado (Japanese tea ceremony) and premium beverages. What we use at Café Mia.
- Ceremonial-grade (standard premium): First-harvest, standard pick. Excellent quality; used at most serious matcha cafes globally.
- Premium blend: Uji leaves blended with matcha from other Japanese regions. Good but less distinctive.
- Culinary: Later-harvest leaves, meant for baking. Not for lattes.
A-Grade Uji at the source in Kyoto sells for the equivalent of $80–$120 per 30g. That's why it's rare in American cafes, the wholesale cost pressure pushes most shops down to standard ceremonial-grade or below.
How to taste the difference
The simplest test: order a matcha shot. 2g whisked in 2oz of hot water, no milk, no sugar. Café Mia's shot is $4. Compare it to a generic ceremonial-grade matcha shot at another cafe. You'll notice three things:
- The color is more vivid neon-green (higher chlorophyll from the specific Uji growing conditions).
- The first sip tastes clean but has a savory bass note underneath, that's umami.
- The aftertaste keeps evolving for a half minute after the sip. Generic matcha stops at the swallow.
Once you've experienced Uji's depth, other ceremonial matchas will taste flat by comparison. This is the difference we're trying to communicate.
Signature menu
Order what everyone comes for
Iced Matcha Latte
A-Grade Uji matcha, 4g dose, whisked fresh with oat milk over large-cube ice. Our #1 seller.
$5.50
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Pink Matcha Dragonfruit
Real dragonfruit puree layered with A-Grade Uji matcha. Naturally sweet, vividly pink.
$7.00
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Iced Matcha Lemonade
Fresh-squeezed lemonade meets whisked Uji matcha. Summer bestseller.
$6.50
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What we serve using A-Grade Uji matcha at Café Mia
- Matcha latte (hot or iced) — $5.50. The daily-drinker version. Uji matcha, oat milk, no sugar needed.
- Matcha shot — $4.00. The purest expression. 2g whisked in hot water. Tastes like tea.
- Matcha cappuccino — $5.50. Uji matcha in denser microfoam.
- Iced matcha lemonade — $6.50. Uji matcha meets fresh lemonade. Summer bestseller.
- Pink Matcha Dragonfruit — $7.00. Uji base layered with fresh dragonfruit puree. See the Pink Matcha page.
- Purple Matcha Sweet Potato — $7.00. Uji matcha with roasted purple sweet potato cream. See the Purple Matcha page.
- Seasonal specialties: Strawberry matcha (spring), rose matcha (winter), honey-lavender matcha (fall). All Uji-based.
Take-home Uji matcha
We sell take-home tins of A-Grade Uji matcha at the counter for $60. That's meaningfully below the specialty-tea-shop retail price for the same grade, because we buy at cafe volume and pass through the price. If you've been making matcha at home with a grocery-store powder, upgrading to A-Grade Uji is one of the largest single flavor jumps you can make in your kitchen.
Related
- Best Matcha in Brooklyn — the full pillar guide
- Pink Matcha Dragonfruit — our fruit-forward specialty
- Purple Matcha Sweet Potato — the caramel-sweet specialty
- What is ceremonial-grade matcha? The primer
- Ceremonial vs culinary matcha
Frequently asked
What is Uji matcha?
Uji matcha is matcha grown in Uji, a city in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Uji has been Japan's most prestigious matcha-producing region since the 12th century, the birthplace of Japanese tea culture. Uji matcha is characterized by its intense umami depth, minimal astringency, vivid green color, and long finish. It's what Japanese tea masters use for chado (the tea ceremony). Not all matcha from Japan is Uji matcha, much cheaper matcha is grown in other prefectures or blended. Uji is a specific origin classification, similar to how Champagne is specific to a French region.
What does A-Grade Uji matcha mean?
A-Grade is the highest single-origin classification within Uji matcha. It denotes matcha made from the top pick of the first spring harvest of shade-grown tea leaves, stone-ground to a fine ceremonial-grade powder. A-Grade Uji matcha is the tier used in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies. Below A-Grade you have ceremonial-grade Uji (still excellent), then premium blends, then culinary. A-Grade at the origin, in Japan, retails for the equivalent of $80–$120 per 30g tin, which is why most American cafes don't serve it.
Where can I try A-Grade Uji matcha in Brooklyn?
Café Mia at 1128 Broadway in Bushwick uses A-Grade Uji matcha as our house standard. To our knowledge we're one of a small handful of Brooklyn cafes doing this rather than serving a blended ceremonial or a lower-grade Japanese matcha under the general 'ceremonial' label. Come try the matcha shot ($4), it's the cleanest way to taste Uji's depth without milk in the way.
How is Uji matcha different from regular ceremonial matcha?
Depth and length. Regular ceremonial-grade matcha (which can come from various Japanese prefectures or be a blend) tastes clean, bright, and slightly sweet. Uji matcha tastes clean, bright, slightly sweet, AND has a savory umami depth and a long finish that lingers 30+ seconds after the sip. Once you've had A-Grade Uji, other ceremonial matchas can taste one-dimensional in comparison. Uji is what makes matcha taste like tea rather than just green-flavored milk.
Is A-Grade Uji matcha worth the price?
For a daily latte, it's a $0.50–$1.00 upcharge over generic ceremonial matcha at wholesale, so if your cafe uses it, you're getting a real premium for a small price bump. As a customer, this is one of the highest value-per-dollar upgrades in specialty coffee/tea culture. For take-home tins, A-Grade Uji runs $60–$100 for 30g in the US market, a meaningful commitment. For a $5.50 latte at Café Mia, you're getting the A-Grade Uji experience for less than most Manhattan cafes charge for generic ceremonial matcha.
Why don't more cafes use Uji matcha?
Three reasons: (1) cost, Uji matcha wholesale runs 30–50% higher than generic ceremonial, and cafes optimize for margin; (2) supply, A-Grade Uji is only harvested in one Japanese region once a year, so supply is genuinely constrained; (3) marketing, most customers don't know Uji as a category, so cafes don't get credit for using it. We use it because it's better, and we tell you about it because A-Grade Uji is what makes our matcha distinctive.