In 2020, Rocky Xu was feeling lost. The now 37-year-old who works in brand partnerships at Beats By Dre visited a shaman in Topanga hoping to clear his head and feel less stuck. The shaman put him on a strict 21-day regime known as a chakra cleanse; no alcohol, no tobacco, no sex.
But as Xu was leaving, the shaman asked one final question. Did he drink coffee? That would have to stop. Drink tea instead, the shaman said.
Not just for the cleanse, but forever. This was how Xu ended up going down a wormhole that would lead him to found his brand, Rocky’s Matcha. In Los Angeles, matcha appears on nearly every menu, from Starbucks to hole in the wall mom-and-pops to the Instagrammable Cha Cha Matcha (with locations in Venice, Century City, West Hollywood).
But once Xu was off coffee, he found the matcha offerings to be lackluster. With a personal investment of $3,500, he began researching matcha suppliers with a premium product without fillers and added sugar. Like many coffee brands, he says a lot of ceremonial grade (the highest quality) matcha comes from the same distributors in Japan and is white labeled by brands.
He says his brand currently works with a number of partners and producers, from companies in the US with ties to Japan, distributors in Japan, and directly with Japanese farmers. While taste testing dozens of options, Xu focused on finding a product that paired well with the consumption preferences of his audience, in a latte with alternative nut milk, not purists.