The problem with quality, is that it is a singular and lonely road. You can keep striving for another higher level, just to look back and realize you are by yourself and not many people in your wake. Everything about quality means a deep, rich experience you offer others that you have given blood, sweat, and sometimes years for. But when others are not at a level to appreciate what you do, then how can your quality be of service to others?
Not that Marukyu Koyamaen has that problem. For the last 300 years, they have maintained their status and quality as the finest matcha in Japan. As recent as this generation, they have won more first place awards- or not, when they are the judges. It’s just that the perfection that is their matcha, and the levels they achieve, can not be understood by mere Chanoyu tea ceremony (mistranslation! Not ceremony, according to Mr. Koyama),nor matcha consumption for health. That sophisticated ratio of shibumi, umami, and amami sweetness, along with intense kaori (fragrance), is not something a philistine can argue about. And so, my tour group catches a glimpse of the richness and expertise that a family took to master over 300 long years- why, longer than US history! …..and with that Occidental viewpoint, one will never understand tea.
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