KOI
濃Six grams of competition-grade tencha whisked thick into 50ml of 70C water — koicha, the original tea ceremony format, served bowl-only at the Bradasevo studio. Honey-paste density. Two chawan per booking. R&D archive, never delivered.
KOI is the conceptual SKU that pushes MA7CHA into uncomfortable territory — bowl-only, on-site only, by appointment, EUR 22 per session for two chawan. Koicha (literally 'thick tea') is the ceremonial grade that tencha was originally bred for — 30-50+ year old shaded plants, lowest catechin profile, highest L-theanine, ground to a particle size below 10 microns. Whisked at 6g per 50ml of water at 70C, it is a paste the consistency of warmed honey, drunk in three and a half sips per chawan, traditionally shared between guests at a cha-no-yu ceremony.
The rationale for archiving rather than launching: koicha demands single-cultivar 30+ year tencha at EUR 8-12 per gram, can only be made one-at-a-time by hand, and requires the customer to spend 25 minutes seated in silence — completely incompatible with the 07:00-12:00 daily delivery operating model. We will not dilute it into a delivery format. DAILY7 sub-brand launching August 2026 may host a quarterly koicha tasting at Bradasevo studio, four guests, EUR 88 per seat including a Dominika Miłobędzka chawan to take home. KOI lives in the archive as the proof that we know the difference. The R&D pipeline depth signal matters — luxury brands earn their price on what they refuse to sell as much as on what they sell.
If the format ever launches, it would replace MU's role as the brand's silent flex. For now: archived. Marukyu Koyamaen Tenju (the highest tencha grade Koyamaen produces) is sourced for the four annual tastings only. The rest of the year, Tenju sits unwhisked.
The build.
Sift 6g Tenju through 100-mesh chakoshi twice, add 30ml water 70C, knead with chasen in slow figure-8 for 45s until paste, add remaining 20ml, fold (do not whisk), serve immediately in pre-warmed chawan.
Concentrated wet stone, fresh nori, deep tencha sweetness, no grass.
Honey-thick on the tongue, sweet umami floods the palate, almost no bitter.
Twenty-second sweet finish, salivary, the mouth wants water but does not need it.
The thickest matcha experience possible — a paste that coats the tongue and dissolves slowly.
The compounds. The mechanism. The dose-response.
Tenju-grade tencha at koicha density delivers the highest L-theanine concentration available in any matcha format — approximately 80-100mg per 6g serving. The L-theanine to caffeine ratio is roughly 1:1.7, well above the 1:2 ratio that produces relaxed alertness in the published literature. The result is a calm, focused state without sympathetic activation — historically the basis for Zen Buddhist meditation tea use. No exogenous adaptogens. KOI is the only drink on the menu where the matcha alone is the full experience.
6g is the lower edge of traditional koicha (some schools serve 8-10g per chawan). We hold at 6g because Tenju at higher dose pushes into territory where the bitter notes finally appear and the experience flattens.
- Unno K et al. Reduced stress and improved sleep quality caused by green tea are associated with a reduced caffeine content10.3390/nu9070777
- Juneja LR et al. L-theanine—a unique amino acid of green tea and its relaxation effect in humans10.1016/S0924-2244(99)00044-8
Who orders this. When. Why.
Fifty-eight, retired architect, owns a villa above Stoliv. Has attended every koicha tasting at Bradasevo studio since launch. Sits in silence for the full 25 minutes. Takes the Dominika Miłobędzka chawan home each time. The four chawan now sit on a single shelf in his library.
Forty-one, MA7CHA's longest-tenured subscriber, books the koicha tasting as her own birthday gift each year. Brings her sister. The two of them sit in the studio, drink in three and a half sips, do not speak until the second chawan is finished.
Fifty-five, owns a 65m motoryacht docked at Porto Montenegro for the season, has read about koicha in a Kyoto magazine. Books the entire studio for himself and three guests at EUR 600 private rate. The studio is closed to the menu for that afternoon. He pays in advance, in cash, six weeks ahead.
Where it comes from.
matcha terroirMarukyu Koyamaen Tenju is the top-tier ceremonial matcha from Uji — single-cultivar Samidori from 60+ year old plants, harvested first flush only, stone-milled at 60g per hour. The price is EUR 11 per gram wholesale. We hold a 200g annual allocation for the four tastings.
adriatic elementsBistrica spring water specifically selected for its low TDS and bicarbonate-bicarb profile that matches the soft Uji municipal water. The chawan is Dominika Miłobędzka's tasting-grade piece, raw clay, fired in reduction, never glazed. The room itself is the Bradasevo studio — concrete floor, single skylight, no music, no scent.
When it works.
- Single wagashi sweet (Toraya yokan)
- Plain rice cracker
- Nothing
- 10:00-12:00 Saturday only
- Ceremony
- Marking time
- Birthday
Anything with lactose. Anything with sugar above 5g. Anything you would describe as a meal.
Dominika Miłobędzka tasting chawan, raw unglazed clay, 280ml, made for the format
The chawan is the SKU. KOI is bundled with the chawan as a single object — drink-and-take. Each tasting includes one chawan to take home. Dominika Miłobędzka throws four per quarter. The chawan is fired in a single reduction firing at 1280C. No two are identical. The bundle price is the seat price.
Two and a half grams of Wako, one hundred millilitres of soft water at seventy degrees, whisked to a pale jade foam and poured short into a transparent can. Nothing else, on purpose.
Four grams Wako, lion's mane fruiting body 8:1 at 750mg, KSM-66 ashwagandha, ALCAR, CDP-choline, 7,8-DHF (experimental BDNF-mimetic, disclosed), pterostilbene, MCT C8, L-theanine, 0.2g activated charcoal that turns the column teal-black through clear PET. The deepest stack on the menu. Engineer's SKU.