Our matcha is hand picked, not machine picked. This is an extremely rare cultivation method today. Hand picking produces a cleaner appearance than machine picking because there are fewer old leaves and woody stems, and the buds are of uniform length. It also allows for the harvesting of shoots that cannot be picked by machines, resulting in a better taste. Mechanical picking, on the other hand, has become mainstream due to increased operational efficiency and harvest volume.
While hand picking is of high quality, it is inefficient and expensive, so most tea is picked by machine except in certain regions, advanced teas, and special early season teas. There are still some farmers who pick by hand, but they are not numerous. Hand picking takes a lot of manpower and a lot of time, so nowadays it is mostly done for the sake of fairs.