Matcha has found its alter ego.
The powderized tea, which began as an Eastern aristocratic beverage, the leaves of which were grown by specific farmers who deeply understood the tradition, is now practically the opposite. Today it’s catapulting its way to becoming a mainstream staple in Western life.
Matcha has arrived, made its mark, and it’s here to stay–largely due to its more subtle caffeine kick compared to coffee and its undeniable photogenic charm. The days of educating Americans about matcha are behind us–that step is complete.
Similar to coffee’s string of ‘waves’ from Maxwell House to Starbucks to Verve, matcha’s second wave amid this current renaissance is approaching. How do we continue the momentum of this historic form of tea while maintaining the integrity of its cultivation? Where can innovation here feel authentic, not fabricated?
The second wave of matcha is black matcha.
Instead of powderizing green tea, Wild Orchard is powderizing black tea–pioneering black matcha. We will soon start differentiating between green and black matcha thanks to this Regenerative Organic Certified tea brand that’s rooted in its sacred Farmstead on Jeju Island, South Korea.
Specifically crafted for brewing into lattes, the nuttiness that green matcha is known for remains in black matcha, but there are additional notes of rich milk chocolate that distinguish it from its verdigrised counterpart.
Why green matcha has become so popular is also largely because of its instagrammable appeal, paving the way for more viral videos, this time, a little darker. “Matcha has been growing, but nothing like we’ve seen in the last few years,” Michael Ham, cofounder of Wild Orchard, tells me. “It denotes health. It denotes hip. That’s what spread the matcha culture.”
The cycle now repeats itself, creating a market for black matcha through another round of education. That goes well beyond product placement on retail shelves and getting reposted by content creators. It needs to be received by the right sets of eyes.
So Wild Orchard is leaning into partnerships. Not run-of-the-mill co-branded ones, but creative collaborations that get people to think of Regenerative Organic Certified black matcha, and the power of regenerative agriculture as a whole, with a fresh perspective–anywhere from sports and tech to clothing and haircare.
The brand has been sampling the product in a wide variety of spaces, including retail stores like Kiehl’s and Patagonia, and at corporate businesses like Meta, Amazon and Target offices.
Leaning into community and passing on knowledge is an essential aspect of regenerative agriculture, and these partnerships are an additional way that Wild Orchard amplifies this pillar.
“Once people taste it, they’re enamored by it,” Ham says.
Welcome To The Dark Side
The idea to pioneer black matcha came to life while engaging with retail buyers about carrying Wild Orchard’s green matcha, which admittedly is not as deep of a green color that’s expected from matcha because it’s sun-grown, not shade-grown, for enhanced nutritional benefits.
“Even though it’s healthier, retailers didn’t think it would sell as well,” Ham says. “They kept saying, ‘we need the color.’”
It’s understandable, given that matcha’s green color is what has helped make it so marketable, so the Wild Orchard team responded with a big statement: Not just any color, but the absence of color.
Black matcha is now Wild Orchard’s signature product that it will be most recognized for. Made of ground black tea instead of green tea, black matcha and green matcha come from the same Camellia Sinensis ‘tea tree’ plant and become matcha when its leaves are processed into a powder. There is also room in the future for the possibility of oolong matcha–semi-oxidized, whereas black tea is oxidized further (while green tea is not oxidized at all, just roasted), all which develop nuanced flavor profiles. Wild Orchard’s black matcha is very lightly roasted in addition to the oxidation.
Green matcha has an earthiness that can be polarizing. While it’s the go-to caffeinated beverage for many, others have a strong disdain for its taste. Black matcha is more of a middle ground between coffee and green matcha, likely more appealing to coffee drinkers who want less caffeine but don’t like green matcha.
While black matcha has similar umami notes, its flavor profile compared to green matcha is different–the nuttiness still lingers, but its chocolatier aroma gives it more universal appeal, so it platforms the opportunity to bring many more consumers into the category.
Wild Orchard recommends serving the black matcha latte with whole A2 dairy milk and a touch of maple syrup as a sweetener, which elegantly complements the oxidized tea. Wild Orchard’s matchas, both green and black, are specifically crafted to be used in the form of lattes, which are a simplified entry point, and develop a cozy, foamy texture whether brewed hot or served over ice.
The Philadelphia Eagles
Some of the most elite athletes in the world are drinking black matcha. The Philadelphia Eagles nutrition team has implemented regenerative organic agriculture into its meal programs for its players, including Wild Orchard’s ROC-Certified black matcha.
“We look at our athletes like a sports car. You’re not going to put regular gasoline in there,” Eric Montijo, Philadelphia Eagles Director of Food & Beverage, tells me. “Since we’ve introduced ROC-Certified products and ingredients to the athletes for the past two years, including the year we won the Super Bowl, we had all of our starters on both sides of the ball healthy, and that’s almost unheard of in the NFL.”
Montijo met Ham at Natural Products Expo West, where he was searching for new products that he could add to the food rotation for his players. He was captured by everything Ham taught him about the benefits of tea, even though it was not something on his radar for sports nutrition. “I had never heard of black matcha, but we’re always looking for a leg up against the competition,” Montijo says. “We have a great in-house barista who the players trust. She now does Matcha Mondays where she uses the black matcha to make lattes. It was something that we could introduce to the athletes that would get them excited.”
Wild Orchard’s black matcha plays a particular role in the Eagles players’ routines. With their strictly regimented diets, sometimes they crave something sweet but know that their nutritionists would scold them if they had too many cheat meals. “We only do desserts once a week, so having something like that is a real benefit so they can still indulge their sweet tooth,” Montijo says.
He continues that the black matcha also serves as a better option than coffee for the athletes. “They go from hard practice to meetings and if they don’t have something to keep them going, it’s almost impossible to stay awake,” Montijo adds. “They drink multiple black matchas throughout the day, especially during training camp when their days are so long but we don’t want the crash. We really like the slow burn with extended energy.”
Montijo and Eagles Executive Chef James Sirles together have been bullish on implementing Regenerative Organic Certified products as a whole, understanding that the health and nutrition of professional athletes starts with the nutrient-density of the foods they are eating and the land in which those foods were grown. They have plans to grow and strengthen this program based on the results they have seen so far.
“If you go deep into the playoffs, you’re probably at between 60 to 70% of your starting athletes being healthy,” Montijo explains. “The year after we implemented regenerative organic food into our program, we only had one major injury throughout the year, and that was only a six-week injury.”
Nourish Cold-Pressed Juice
As one of the newest brands to receive Regenerative Organic Certification, Nourish Cold-Pressed Juice creates some of the most artisanal and nutrient-dense juices at scale on the market. Nourish’s ROC-Certified Black Matcha Lemonade is made with Wild Orchard’s black matcha, in addition to the bright citrus and a splash of maple water (the sap before it becomes syrup) to craft a complex beverage that is both deeply earthy and refreshing–a rare combination to achieve.
“When I first visited Wild Orchard on Jeju Island in 2025, I could see the tea at the origin and the farmers who were caring for it,” Nourish founder and CEO, Francine Covelli, tells me. “I knew the health benefits of tea and wanted to craft a juice that not only could give you that nutritional value and heal your body, but also help the planet.”
The amount of regenerative organic ingredients on the market today is limited. That’s why partnerships with brands who are able to directly supply ingredients to other businesses are crucial in this moment of creating markets to scale regenerative agriculture. Nourish also sources green matcha from Wild Orchard for its Green Matcha Lemonade, in addition to sourcing the maple water from Regenerative Organic Certified Forest Farmers.
“Crafting those ingredients for this makes it one of our most impactful products yet,” Covelli says. “This came to life effortlessly. When you have the same mission and care about the people in the space, magic happens.”
The Philadelphia Eagles players happened to have been among the first to try Nourish’s Black Matcha Lemonade, and with their blessing, it’s now ready to launch nationwide. “I knew how nutrient-dense and delicious this was–the flavor of black matcha was nothing I’d ever had before,” Covelli says.
Nourish’s Black Matcha Lemonade is somewhat of an elevated, healthier Arnold Palmer with a mild amount of caffeine, and instead of packing obscene amounts of sugar into it, it actually takes a page from Mother Nature herself. “We are unique in the CPG space. We are on the farm, hands in the soil, harvesting the tea leaves, being a part of the whole end result–crafting that into a juice recipe,” Covelli says. “When I met Michael, we had instant synergy and alignment on why we’re here and why we’re doing what we’re doing.”
“This is so much bigger than ourselves,” she adds, “Jeju Island has become a part of my heart.”
Davines Hair Care
Agriculture is not strictly our source of food. It is our source of every item we utilize in our everyday lives from clothing to furniture and beauty products. Wild Orchard is partnering with premium hair care business Davines North America as a means of amplifying what it means to be Regenerative Organic Certified.
“We have a strange history of doing collaborations with smaller emerging food brands that are extremely value aligned,” Jorge Blanco, Davines North America Culture & Creative Director, tells me. “When I came across the Regenerative Organic Certified side of Wild Orchard, that’s what resonated with me more than anything.”
Starting this Fall, when customers enter thousands of Davines partner salons across the US and Canada, they will be offered Wild Orchard ROC-Certified tea. While brewing black matcha lattes was not a practical solution for this specific environment, clients will now not only be able to feel regenerative organic products on their hair, but simultaneously throughout the body.
“I personally didn’t care whether it was tea, coffee or pasta,” Blanco expresses. “It was that there was another kindred spirit brand whose values transcended industry borders.”
The partnership occurs as Davines begins to roll out its own line of Regenerative Organic Certified haircare, Essential Haircare, now the first haircare line in the world to use ROC-Certified ingredients across its entire line. They have used some ROC-Certified ingredients in the past, but this represents the largest launch of regenerative organic haircare products since the company was founded in 1992.
“Regenerative Organic Certified companies care extremely about source and origin, the supply chain, farmer fairness and biodiversity,” Blanco says. “And more than anything, they care about the health of the earth’s soil, and why that’s important for the things we grow and the health of communities around the world. They put all of that into their products.”
The salons will order their preferred tea blends wholesale from Wild Orchard that they feel their unique demographics across the US and Canada may resonate with to complement the overall hospitality experience during their appointments. “Part of Davines’ obligation to what we are investing in as a ROC-Certified company is to help bring up other emerging brands in the hopes that more people join the regenerative movement,” Blanco says. “It’s an all boats rise from the tide kind of thing.”
Whole Foods Market
For several years, Wild Orchard teas have been sold at Whole Foods Market, where its Sunday Brunch green tea blend is its best seller. But with black matcha making its mark on the scene, this partnership now deepens. The counterservice cafes at Whole Foods Market stores will start serving black matcha lattes using Wild Orchard’s black matcha as a selection on its menu.
Educating consumers about black matcha is an unavoidable hurdle. Having the black matcha lattes already made for them is a tool to jump that hurdle, not having to wonder how to make it on their own. Launching this Fall, it will be offered hot or iced, with a choice of milk and sweetener, although maple syrup is going to really reign in the season.
“Green matcha has had this resurgence lately. The cafes have experienced tremendous growth in green matcha, and after tasting black matcha and discovering how approachable it is, it stood out as an incredible complement to our coffee bar program,” Brett Gulick, Whole Foods Market coffee and tea buyer, tells me. “We think of it as an elevated hot chocolate experience.”
Whole Foods is taking a multi-step approach to educating its customers on this new product on top of some marketing collateral it plans to roll out around black matcha. “People are going to gravitate to it because ‘matcha’ is in the name. The curiosity is going to draw folks in,” Gulick says. “We’re informing our baristas about the product so that they also can educate the consumer on it.”
On top of black matcha serving as an additional option for those who may want something other than coffee or green matcha, Whole Foods Market is particularly eager to deepen its relationship with Wild Orchard because of the work the company does on advancing regenerative organic agriculture.
“It’s the alignment to sustainability. They’re using the geese to help manage pests on the farm and they don’t have to irrigate because of their planting practices,” Gulick explains. “The fact that they’re willing to take it to the level of certification says a lot about their quality and Wild Orchard’s commitment to environmental stewardship.”
