KANBAYASHI SHUNSHO - Koicha Babamukashi Heritage Grade Matcha - 20 gram

Uji Matcha for making Koicha from Kanbayashi Shunsho

Matcha Babamukashi is the third highest grade Matcha of the long-established tea maker, Kanbayashi Shunsho.

The story behind the name is that Tokugawa Ieyasu was so fond of the tea made by the mother of the first generation of the Kanbayashi family that he called it "Babacha", meaning "Grandmother's tea". He gave her a tea garden in Wakamori as a reward, and named the tea picked there “Babamukashi". This is a prestigious tea name that is only allowed to be used by the Kanbayashi family.

The scent of the fresh Matcha powder already promises a sweet, dessert-like tea with a hint of vanilla. The taste of this extraordinary Matcha is uniquely creamy and sweet, a dynamic taste with no bitterness at all. With notes of dried dates, tender greens and vanilla that echoes from the fragrance, Babamukashi caresses without any sharpness or force. To finish the marvelous experience of drinking this Matcha, the aftertaste is like a pleasant custard cream. Compared to the 'Koicha Hijirimukashi' below it in the lineup, it shares the same overall character but with a noticeably fuller and sweeter taste.


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The Kanbayashi Shunsho family has been established for fifteen generations since the Eiroku era (around 1560).
The family began when its first generation, Kamon no Jo Hisashige, moved to Uji from Kanbayashi Township in Tanba and became involved in the tea industry, playing an important role in production and distribution as the leading tea master in the Uji tea industry. During the Edo period (1603-1867), he was a “Gomotsu Ochashi,” the highest rank of tea master, and delivered tea to the shogunate and various feudal lords.

However, with the coming of the Meiji era, the shogunate and the feudal lords lost their patronage, and most of the tea masters were forced to change their business. The Shunsho family faced a crisis for the first time since its establishment, but the 11th generation Shunsho attracted a large number of tea lovers by dealing in “gyokuro” and “sencha,” which were newly developed teas at the time, and transformed himself from a tea master to a tea merchant.
Since then, Shunsho has successfully adapted to the changes of the times, keeping the light of the tea business burning under the company motto of “Learning from the past for the future”.

As the only descendant of the Uji tea master, the Kanbayashi Shunsho family boasts a history of 450 years.
The spirit of making the finest tea for generations has been passed down to this day.