Drink Christian Tea
Matcha & Black Tea
Good Tea + Saints + Supporting Christian Missions
Matcha & Black Tea
Good Tea + Saints + Supporting Christian Missions
Quality Tea
Martyrs of China & Japan
Supporting Christian missions
The teas
Each tea is paired with a martyr from the land it grows in: Japanese matcha with St. Paul Miki, and Chinese black tea with St. Mark Ji Tianxiang.
Ceremonial matcha · Japan
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.” John 15:18
Stone-ground green tea, shade-grown and whisked whole. The lid carries an icon of St. Paul Miki, a Japanese Jesuit and martyr, holding the cross and the martyr's palm.
Black tea · China
“For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.” 2 Corinthians 8:12
A Chinese black tea made from downy, golden-tipped buds, naturally sweet and smooth. The lid carries an icon of St. Mark Ji Tianxiang, a Chinese doctor and martyr, holding the martyr's palm and the Gospel.
The saints on the lids
Japan · Matcha
Paul Miki was born in Japan around 1562 to a samurai family and was raised Christian. He was educated by the Jesuits, entered the Society of Jesus, and became one of the best-known Japanese preachers of his day.
In 1596 the ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi turned against the missionaries. Paul was arrested with Jesuits, Franciscan friars, and lay Catholics, some of them boys. Their ears were cut and they were marched hundreds of miles through the winter to Nagasaki as a warning to other Christians.
On February 5, 1597, the twenty-six were crucified on a hill above Nagasaki. From his cross, Paul preached one last time: he said he was Japanese, that he was dying for preaching the Gospel, and that he forgave everyone responsible for his death.
Pope Pius IX canonized him in 1862 with his companions. He is an example for speaking about Christ when it costs everything.
China · Golden Monkey
Mark Ji was a Christian physician in northern China. Treating his own stomach illness with opium, he became addicted, and for some three decades his confessors could not give him absolution because he could not promise to stop.
He never left the Church. He kept going to Mass, kept praying, and kept trusting that God had not given up on him. In 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion, he was arrested with members of his family. He asked to die last so none of them would face death alone, and he went to execution singing the Litany of Our Lady.
The Church canonized him in 2000 with the 120 Martyrs of China. He is a quiet patron for those struggling with addiction. He is a husband and a father who shepherded his family through martyrdom, an example for today.
Making Tea
Chill out for a minute and focus on Jesus Christ.
Sift the matcha into a warmed bowl so it whisks smooth, without clumps.
2 g · two bamboo scoopsLet boiled water rest a few minutes. Hotter water scorches the tea and turns it bitter.
70 ml · 175°FWhisk briskly from the wrist in a quick zig-zag until a fine foam covers the surface.
15–20 seconds · M-strokeTurn your mind to God, pray the Rosary, and invoke St. Paul Miki.
Slow downRinse your pot or mug with hot water so the tea stays hot while it steeps.
Hot water · a few secondsGolden Monkey's tips are fluffy and light, so use a heaping spoonful or measure by weight.
3 g · 1 heaping tsp per 8 ozPour water just off the boil, steep, then pour off all the tea so the leaves don't stew. The same leaves brew a second and third cup.
203°F · 3–4 minTurn your mind to God, pray the Rosary, and invoke St. Mark Ji Tianxiang.
Slow downOur name
Kirishitan (キリシタン) is the old Japanese word for the Christians who received the Faith from St. Francis Xavier and the missionaries who followed him in the 1500s.
Tea and the Faith met early. Among Sen no Rikyū's closest disciples was Blessed Justo Takayama Ukon, a Christian samurai who gave up his lands rather than his Faith and died in exile in Manila.
When Christianity was outlawed, thousands were martyred and the rest went underground. For two and a half centuries, without priests, these hidden Christians baptized their children and passed down their prayers in secret. A certain tradition holds that the Eucharist was offered under the guise of a tea ceremony when Christianity was illegal.
St. Francis Xavier lands at Kagoshima and begins preaching in Japan.
Sen no Rikyū, master of the tea ceremony, dies. Takayama Ukon was among his foremost students.
St. Paul Miki and 25 companions are crucified on a hill in Nagasaki.
Christianity is banned across Japan. Ukon is exiled and dies in Manila the next year.
Hidden Christians reveal themselves to a French priest at Ōura Church in Nagasaki.
In China, St. Mark Ji Tianxiang dies among the martyrs of the Boxer Rebellion.
Every tin gives back
The Kirishitan received the Faith because missionaries crossed the world to bring it. Your tea helps today's missionaries do the same: preaching the Gospel, bringing the sacraments, and serving the poor where the Church is young or persecuted.
Launch list
Send a short note to be told when the tins ship. Inquiries about the brand are welcome, too.