We get some version of this question a lot: "okay, but what's actually different between these, and which one do I want?" It's a fair thing to ask. Most people find their way to powdered tea through matcha, and don't realize there's a whole world beyond it.

That's kind of our whole reason for existing, actually. We're not a matcha company that also happens to sell a few other things on the side. We're a powdered tea company, and matcha is one product in a category that also includes black tea, roasted tea, and fermented tea, each made a completely different way and tasting nothing like the others.

Here's what actually sets the four apart.

Emerald Cove: matcha

If you already drink matcha, Emerald Cove won't need much of an introduction. It's vegetal, a little sweet, with the steady, jitter-free lift matcha is known for. It's the most familiar of the four, and the natural place to start if you're new to us. Good enough to show you what the rest of the catalog can do.

Terracotta: roasted green tea (houjicha)

Terracotta is houjicha, green tea that's roasted rather than steamed, which strips out most of the caffeine and a good chunk of the bitterness along with it. Nutty, toasty, faintly sweet. It's the one to reach for when you want warmth and comfort without much of a caffeine hit. Makes a great latte, works just as well plain.

Red Onyx: black tea

Red Onyx is a Japanese black tea powder, which is rare on its own since Japan doesn't really make much black tea to begin with. It's steamed before it's oxidized and roasted across nine separate stages, so it comes out floral and smooth instead of tannic. If you want the ritual and the body of a cup of coffee but not the spike that comes with it, this is about as close as powdered tea gets.

Afterglow: fermented tea

Afterglow ferments using kurokoji, a mold traditionally used in shochu and miso, here applied to tea leaves instead. What comes out is earthy, complex, and honestly unlike anything else in the powdered tea world, closer to what a dark roast coffee drinker or a wine drinker might appreciate than what a typical matcha fan expects. Lower in caffeine, and usually the one people land on last, once they've built up some trust in the rest of the lineup.

So which one should you pick?

If you want something familiar and dependable, start with Emerald Cove. If you want comfort without much caffeine, go Terracotta. If you like the idea of a coffee-style beverage minus the crash, Red Onyx is the closest thing in tea. And if you're already comfortable with matcha and want to see how far the category actually goes, Afterglow is the deep end.

Most of our customers don't pick just one anyway. They end up rotating through a few of them depending on the time of day or what they're in the mood for, which is really the point of carrying four distinct teas instead of a single flagship product. If you're still not sure, start with whichever sounds closest to what you already drink, and let the rest introduce itself from there.