OCHADOZO Founder Yuki on Connecting with People Through Matcha

Viridescent, fragrant, and silken to the tongue, sinking into your insides after leaving behind a flavour that reminds the nose of a plantation after rain, with a palate of soothing nuttiness that gives way for a bitter end to tiptoe in. The sensorial magic of Japanese Matcha is one that’s difficult to translate through words alone.

Concurring with the belief that each sip of Matcha - every finely powdered leaf granule, even - carries with it the stories of its makers and growers, as well as the rich, centuries-long traditions present in Japanese “Chado” culture, Yuki Futami has made a career of propagating all things matcha through her brainchild - Ochadozo.

Ochadozo is a cultural pop-up brand that offers participants the opportunity to embrace the culture of matcha through ceremonial rituals, social sessions with tastings, technical classes, and more. Chatting to The Beat Asia, Yuki celebrates the love for matcha that she has in common with many Hong Kongers, by giving us an insight into the joys of preparing and drinking matcha, how she has been able to showcase the tea in a new light through Ochadozo, and what enthralling events she may come to hold.

For our readers who don’t know, what is your background? How did you first become involved with the Nihoncha Association?

I went to University in Tokyo, then later in the U.K. to complete my postgraduate studies, where my husband and I met. After living and working in China for a few years, in 2007 we moved to Hong Kong.

Having been away from Japan for a long time, I wanted to be involved in Japanese cultural practices, hence I started to learn Chado (the Japanese Way of Tea) in 2009. As I joined more Chado lessons, my interest towards tea grew stronger, and I started to learn about various aspects of tea such as plant varieties, the farming process, as well as brewing and whisking procedures. It was very interesting for me to taste Matchas from various parts of Japan.

I took the Nihoncha Association Japanese tea instructor examination in 2019, and the following year they appointed me as the Nihoncha Ambassador in Hong Kong.

What is matcha culture (Chado) like in Hong Kong? What first inspired you to establish Ochadozo?

Matcha is very popular in Hong Kong. Many participants at our tea workshops have tried Matcha in Japan when they visited places like shrines, museums, and cafes. In Hong Kong, Ochadozo started with us carrying a tea set to different venues and occasions, to make and serve tea to people we would meet – kind of like the Hong Kong ice cream van.

Our events incorporate traditional elements of Matcha, but we do it in different settings such as at a movie theatre concourse area, at co-working spaces, and such. This is so that I could hopefully contribute to introducing Matcha to people from different walks of life, at different venues accessible to most people.

With what I have been doing in the past few years, that naturally led me to set up Ochadozo, to keep pursuing my goal of connecting with people through matcha in Hong Kong and beyond.

Do you see any similarities between Chado and local Hong Kong tea culture?

In Chado, we often discuss mindsets such as respect for each other, cherishing chance encounters through tea, appreciating nature, and more.

Hong Kong’s local tea culture, whether it is the more formal Chinese tea practice (茶藝) or the more casual everyday act of yum-cha, is also about people connecting with one another. Tea brings people together in a relaxing moment and also helps to calm down our minds and focus on the moment.

What sort of experiences and opportunities for tea appreciation would you like to introduce through Ochadozo?

I would like to connect with participants in our tea events through matcha. Planning, selecting, whisking, and serving tea alongside okashi (Japanese sweets) for someone is like sharing a gift with the person. To serve and to be served tea is a heart-warming way of connecting and communicating.

Whisking matcha is good for calming down our minds, especially in a busy city like Hong Kong. While focusing on making good tea, we can concentrate on each step and the moment, almost as if we were meditating. Having tea in a quiet setting, I feel our senses become sharper. The taste, aroma, flavours, and aftertaste of okashi and tea in our mouths can be felt more directly and will linger.

The whisking and drinking process itself takes about three to five minutes, but it can be powerfully refreshing. We hope more people can try this. In the future, where circumstances permit, I hope to continue infusing other different cultural elements (for example music, and ceramics) into our tea events, such as when we hosted a Matcha and Japanese tea film viewing event in March.

Besides one-off events, we also offer recurring Matcha courses for those who wish to explore various topics and experiences such as tea sampling, blind tasting, planning for their own tea gathering events, chasen comparison, okashi sampling, and more. Anyone can join whether they have had previous experiences with Matcha or not!

What do you hope students and workshop attendees can learn from your curated experiences?

During our recurring classes, we go through key steps involved in the Matcha process; starting from opening a package of matcha, whisking, the choice of okashi, et cetera, to the cleaning up of tea utensils at the end of the process. After learning these, participants are equipped to take good care of their utensils on their own, and they can whisk tea wherever they are, for themselves at home or in the office, or for family and friends, which is one of our goals.

Matcha is very interesting in itself, in terms of taste, aftertaste, aroma, colour, and texture, as well as the contrast of these traits between different types of matcha. But beyond that, Matcha is linked to, and will naturally bring us to conversations on topics such as agriculture, Japanese food culture, water, and so forth. We enjoy these conversations very much and hope our event participants can join us in such conversations.

In your opinion, what makes good matcha?

In general, I like matcha with a fresh green aroma, and a soft and clean (or ‘yasashii’ in Japanese) taste. Seasonality, what to drink tea with, and when and where to have tea, are factors that can also have an effect on whether a consumer of Matcha prefers a softer and cleaner taste, or a stronger, heavier tasting tea. If various factors fit in with the situation, and people are happy, they will perceive the tea to be good tea.

What is your favourite part about preparing matcha?

I always enjoy seeing smiles from participants when we serve okashi, and I like the sound of pouring water and whisking, which is so relaxing.

I also like the moment when hot water is added into a bowl of matcha. The fresh green aroma rises and the tea-infused air goes through our noses and brains!

What’s in store for the future of Ochadozo?

We are in the midst of putting together our online shop where we’ll be selling matcha’s, chasen’s, and more.

And we’ll continue to organize more classes, workshops - with schools and with private and corporate clients - and where the opportunity arises, to collaborate with local and international artisans in crossover events.

This interview was edited for length and clarity

Learn more about matcha and check out Ochadozo’s next event on their website

Keep up with Yuki on Instagram at @yukifutami.tea