Specialty Matcha Podcast

Ryan and Zongjun talk to friend and former colleague Dr. Yizhou Ma, assistant professor of food process engineering at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. In this episode they discuss matcha from a food science perspective including matcha milling, particle analysis, particle size distributions, morphology, suspensions, and foam formation. Check out Yizhou's podcast Hood in the Hood: https:/...

In this episode of the Specialty Matcha Podcast, Ryan and Sam interview Tom Greese, co-founder of Chaseki, a matcha-focused business in Thailand. Tom shares his journey from the hospitality industry to launching Chaseki, the challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the evolution of the matcha market in Thailand. The conversation delves into the importance of educating consumers about mat...

In this episode Ryan and Zongjun had the opportunity to interview Bryan Ong, the Founder of Matsu Matcha based in Singapore. The conversation spanned across many topics including the current matcha landscape in Singapore, building a matcha brand, matcha evaluation techniques and even digital advertising strategies. https://www.instagram.com/matsu_matcha/ https://matsumatcha.com/

Apologies for the spotty audio quality, we had some technical difficulties when recording. You can find a full video version of this podcast with correct subtitles on Youtube. In this episode, we're excited to welcome Jev from MTCH, a contemporary matcha bar in Bangkok, Thailand. MTCH has played a pivotal role in our matcha journey on the Specialty Matcha Podcast and has been a major source of ins...

Ryan and Zongjun discuss the Specialty Matcha renaissance happening in Thailand. If you're visiting Thailand and would like a list of recommendations please shoot us an email at hello@sanko-cha.com

Welcome to Season 2 of the Specialty Matcha Podcast! We have a very special guest and friend Aislynn van Clief to talk about tea ceremony and Japanese philosophy. https://www.fudo-an.com/

We're officially 25 episodes in and we're calling that the end of Season 1! The entire team at Sanko matcha products reflects on season 1. Stay tuned for Season 2 starting next week! https://sankomatcha.com/

Ryan and Zongjun discuss the launch of Obsidian, the One-Dimensional Matcha Whicking Bowl as well as questions they have on their matcha learning journey.

In this episode, Ryan and Zongjun interview Cole from My Matcha Addiction (IG: @mymatchaaddiction). They discuss the growing matcha community on Instagram, the increase in matcha options, and Cole's journey in creating a matcha-themed Instagram page. The conversation covers the challenges of finding reliable matcha information, surprises from visiting Japanese matcha shops, and topics like mat...

Ryan and Zongjun interview Ricardo from My Japanese Green Tea. They discuss the mission behind the My Japanese Green Tea blog and podcast, which is to get more people interested in Japanese tea. They also talk about the rise of matcha and the transformation happening in the matcha industry, with more vendors offering single origin and single cultivar matcha. https://www.myjapanesegreentea.com/

Ryan and Zongjun talk to Ian Chun from Yunomi.life to discuss his journey in the tea industry and the work he does to support Japanese tea farmers. He shares the challenges faced by small-scale farmers and the impact of the global market on the tea industry. The conversation also touches on the quality and preferences of matcha, the shift towards ready-made drinks, and the decline of tea culture i...

Ryan and Zongjun discuss the concept of a specialty product. They explore the ambiguity of terms and the variance of answers when it comes to defining specialty products - with no surprises, there is no "right answer." They also discuss the evolution of specialty products and how they have transitioned from niche categories to mainstream products. This episode touches on the role of stor...

Ryan and Zongjun talk to John O'Connor, founder if Johnny Matcha. We discuss John's experience working in Major League Baseball, his path to founding Johnny Matcha, building direct relationships with Japanese farmers, and his philosophy of "know the source".

Ryan and Zongjun discuss the fact that when a consumer or a business purchases matcha, it's still an unfinished product. Preparation skill and care are the last mile in determining resulting matcha quality.

In this episode, Ryan and Zongjun explore how a brand influences the perceived quality of matcha. They also outline key criteria that can be used to evaluate matcha quality based on the information provided on its label.

Ryan and Zongjun discuss the very open ended question of "what is high quality matcha?" and the roles of subjective preferences, expert consensus, how quality standards have changed in different industries, and how important consistency is in creating a high quality product.

How can you trust what's a label? In this episode Ryan and Zongjun attempt to unpack how objective truths are labeled in matcha, gray areas in matcha labeling, and the use of subjective claims that can adorn matcha labels.

On this episode of the Specialty Matcha Podcast, Ryan and Zongjun interview Marc from Ooika. We discuss sourcing tencha in Japan, milling matcha in the US, and the new wave of single origin and single cultivar matcha companies. Check out Ooika: https://ooika.co/ For more products and content from Sanko check out: www.sankomatcha.com

Matcha labeling is confusing, perhaps more confusing than any other specialty product. Pick any two random matcha powders from most Japanese or western vendors and it will be very difficult to differentiate them. They’ll use vague language, poetic names, and unclearly specified product details. In this episode, Ryan and Zongjun deep dive into a multi-part series discussion about matcha labeling.

A technical deep dive into water chemistry and how it forms the foundation of tea flavor and flavor extraction with Founder of Empirical Water, Arby Avanesian. If you're interested in learning more about water chemistry optimization for tea, check out Empirical Water: https://empiricalwater.com/

The future of matcha is specialty. Matcha isn’t matcha isn’t matcha—there will be a future where consumers from Dubai to Paris and from Bangkok to LA will have acquired preferences for Uji vs. Yame matcha, or Asahi vs. Yabukita cultivar, or fresh vs. preground matcha. As the mystery and mastery of producing matcha becomes better understood by mainstream non-Japanese markets, demand for specialty p...

Ryan and Zongjun discuss designing and manufacturing, Obsidian, the one-dimensional matcha whisking bowl, as well as other products on their roadmap.

Hosts Ryan and Zongjun interview matcha product developer and food scientist, Patrick Penny. The scope of this wide-ranging interview covers matcha as a specialty product, the perception of matcha by Japanese consumers, and the importance of freshness.

In his book “Crossing the Chasm”, Geoffrey A. Moore lays out a framework whereby mainstream consumers adopt new technologies. He segments buyers into “visionaries” and “pragmatists”, between which resides “the chasm” of adoption that all products must cross before fully entering the mainstream. Matcha visionaries went out of their way to source and prepare matcha. They tolerated inconveniences and...

Ryan and Zongjun discuss techniques for tasting matcha, tea competitions, and the terminology used to describe different flavor profiles.