Products · Tea & teaware · Matchaful
Matchaful Houjicha (organic roasted green tea powder)
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Roasted green tea powder from an organic Shizuoka farm group. Matchaful’s 2026 report shows less lead than its matchas (45 to 50 ppb, about 0.1 µg per 2 g serving) and no pesticides detected. The numbers are the maker’s; no outside test.
Best for People who whisk or blend powdered tea and want a lower-lead, lower-priced option than matcha, with a toasty rather than grassy taste.
- Our quality rating
- Good (4 of 5)
- Price range
- Budget
- Verified marks
- USDA Organic (CCOF)
- Size
- 30 g tin or 100 g bag
- Made in
- Tenryu District, Shizuoka, Japan (produced by Osada Tea), as stated by the maker
approx. $30 for a 30 g tin ($48 for 100 g)
See it on Matchaful’s site →We are not affiliated with Matchaful. This link goes to the maker’s own page, with no tracking code. How we're funded.
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How we evaluated it
Why we chose it What put it on our list
- Matchaful’s 2026 report on Houjicha (reported 4 Feb 2026) shows lead 49.7 ppb (45 ppb by a second method), cadmium 14.1, arsenic 13.6 and mercury below 5, with no pesticides detected in two screening panels and cesium and iodine below detection.
- That is less lead than the other two powders in Matchaful’s reports, dated the same days: Kiwami at 68.8 ppb and Hikari at 76 to 114 ppb.
- The USDA Organic Integrity Database lists Matchaful (certifier CCOF) with “Houjicha Roasted Matcha” among its certified products. The page names the producer, Osada Tea, and the area, the Tenryu District of Shizuoka.
- The 100 g bag costs $48, about $0.48 a gram, and the page prints a Best By date on the package.
Trade-offs What to weigh before you buy
- It still contains lead. At 45 to 50 ppb, a 2 g serving carries about 0.09 to 0.10 µg and a 4 g latte serving, the size Matchaful suggests, about 0.18 to 0.20 µg. California’s Prop 65 safe-harbor level for lead is 0.5 µg a day, and FDA’s interim reference levels for lead from all food are 2.2 µg a day for children and 8.8 µg a day for women of childbearing age.
- The lab’s name is blacked out in Matchaful’s PDF, so the numbers are the maker’s own. We found no outside test of Houjicha; the outside test we cite for Matchaful was of Kiwami.
- The USDA database lists “Houjicha Roasted Matcha” while the shop sells “Houjicha”. We read them as the same product but could not confirm it.
- It is not matcha. Houjicha is roasted green tea, so it tastes toasty rather than grassy. Matchaful’s report measures caffeine at 2.0% by weight, against 2.8% for Kiwami.
What to know Details worth knowing first
Houjicha is green tea that has been roasted, which gives it a toasty, mellow taste. Matchaful sells it as a fine powder that you whisk or stir into milk, the same way as matcha. Because it is a powder, you drink the whole leaf, as with matcha (see our matcha guide).
It is listed because Matchaful’s own report puts its lead lower than its matchas, at about 45 to 50 ppb, with no pesticides detected, and because the USDA database lists the organic certification. The lab’s name is blacked out in the PDF and we found no outside test of this product, so the numbers are the maker’s. At that level a 2 g serving carries about 0.1 µg of lead, against California’s Prop 65 safe-harbor level of 0.5 µg a day. Our lead guide explains why we do not call any amount of lead safe.
It is a sensible swap if you want less lead and a lower price than matcha and like the roasted taste. It is not a substitute if you want matcha’s shade-grown flavor.
Quality & testing How it measures up against our checklist
- Third-party tested
- No
- Tested by
- Not named (blacked out in the PDF)
- Certificate of analysis
- Yes
| What we checked | What we found |
|---|---|
| Tested for lead and pesticides Maker’s claim | Matchaful’s 2026 report: lead 49.7 ppb (first method) and 45 ppb (ICP-MS), cadmium 14.1 and 12, arsenic 13.6 and 13, mercury below 5; pesticide panels not detected at the limit of quantitation; cesium below 1 Bq/kg. No outside test of Houjicha found. |
| Organic Verified | Matchaful, Inc dba Matchaful is certified by CCOF (NOP ID 5561004703) under the USDA National Organic Program (status effective 6 Nov 2024). The listing includes “Houjicha Roasted Matcha”. |
| Named origin Maker’s claim | Produced by Osada Tea from first-flush leaves in an organic farm community in the Tenryu District, Shizuoka. This comes from Matchaful’s page. |
| Loose leaf or plastic-free bags Maker’s claim | A powder, not a tea bag, sold in a 30 g tin or a 100 g bag. The pages do not say what the bag is made of. |
| Freshness Maker’s claim | Matchaful prints a Best By date on the package and advises using an opened container within a month. No harvest year is stated. |
| Notices and recalls Verified | We found no California Prop 65 notices and no FDA recalls naming Matchaful when we searched on 22 Oct 2026. |
What the labels mean
- Verified We opened an independent record that confirms it: a certifier’s listing, a regulator’s list or a lab report. It is linked under Sources.
- Maker’s claim The maker says so on its own page or label. We read it but found no independent record.
- Not verified We looked and could not confirm it, or the maker does not say. Treat it as unknown.
Sources Where our facts come from
- Matchaful: Houjicha (product page). Maker’s page. Open ↗
- Matchaful: lab test results for our tea products (June 2026). Maker’s page. Open ↗
- Matchaful: Houjicha lab report 2026 (PDF). Maker’s page. Reported 4 Feb 2026. The lab’s name is blacked out. Open ↗
- USDA Organic Integrity Database: Matchaful, Inc dba Matchaful. Certifier or regulator listing. Open ↗
- California Attorney General: Prop 65 60-day notice search. Certifier or regulator listing. Searched by alleged violator on 22 Oct 2026; no notice named Matchaful. Open ↗
- FDA: lead in food and foodwares (interim reference levels). Independent source. Open ↗
- OEHHA: Prop 65 guideline stating lead’s safe-harbor levels (0.5 µg/day reproductive, 15 µg/day cancer). Independent source. Interpretive Guideline 2011-001, published by OEHHA. The 0.5 µg/day figure is also listed in California Code of Regulations, title 27, section 25805(b). Open ↗
- California Code of Regulations, title 27, § 25805: levels for chemicals causing reproductive toxicity (lead: 0.5 µg/day). Independent source. Open ↗
Alternatives Other options to compare
- Matchaful Organic Kiwami Single Cultivar Matcha Real matcha, checked by an outside lab on an earlier batch. More lead (about 69 to 73 ppb) and more money: $49 for 30 g.
- A steeped loose-leaf tea You drink the infusion rather than the whole leaf.