Third Culture Bakery

10/21/2026

Day 3: Rare Hojicha Factory🍂
🍂 Roasting hojicha is a very power consuming process, the giant ovens needed to roast the tea leaves to make hojicha is bigger than a large bedroom and two stories tall! So not a lot of facilities exist because it’s too much to build and maintain.

Our partners have a roasting facility on their property and generously showed us the process! The entire place was covered in fine brown tea dust.

You can smell the chocolatey, malty, roastedness of the hojicha and it was all such a sensory explosion from the moment you stepped in with all your protective gear. We are soooo grateful for our tea partners and their friendship! How lucky are we!

These facilities are closed to the public so this was such a special treat to be able to take folks behind the scenes to see. And only available on Third Culture Travel tours!🍂✨

10/20/2026

Day 3: Private Matcha Stone Mills!
We got to see over 70+ stone mills in action! Did you know that EACH stone mill only makes 40 grams of matcha per hour. Nonstop.

❤️💞❤️

10/18/2026

🧡PUMPKIN IS HERE🧡
Cozy squishy vibes!
Made using fresh pumpkin puree, hand ground spices, and topped with a handmade spiced crumble on top!

Always 100% gluten free and 100% squishy :3

💥PRO TIP!! Dip it in our Great Pumpkin Latte and be MINDBLOWN☕️✨

10/12/2026

Hi friends!

Our shop will be temporarily closed this Wednesday, October 14th, as we take care of an urgent plumbing repair.

Unfortunately, this is the only day our awesome plumber can make it out this week, and we want to make sure everything is properly fixed before welcoming you back and we can fire up our kitchen properly.

Never a dull moment when you're running a small business, that's for sure! But we're doing what we can to keep on moving forward!

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience and understanding. We'll be back serving your favorite matcha and treats Thursday 10/15!

With love,
Sam & Wenter
& The Third Culture Bakery Team 💛

10/12/2026

Join us this Monday 10/12
For a matcha or a treat and give back.
Thank you for being in our community.
How gorgeous and fabulous we all are when we shine together!

10/11/2026

Hi mochi fam, this Monday, October 12, in honor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we’re donating 10% of all sales to Sogorea Te' Land Trust through the Shuumi Land Tax. 🤎

Shuumi means “gift” in Chochenyo, an Ohlone language. The Shuumi Land Tax is a voluntary contribution that supports the work of Sogorea Te’, an Indigenous women-led land trust here in the Bay Area.

That support helps return Indigenous land to Indigenous people and create gardens, community centers, and ceremonial spaces where Indigenous communities can gather and keep their traditions thriving.

Our bakery calls Ohlone land home. Contributing to Shuumi is one small way we can acknowledge that history and support the Ohlone community’s present and future.

Come by for your favorite treats on Monday, and help us support this work. Thank you for being part of our community 🫶🏽

10/10/2026

Your *mochi* party have Arrived

As a small token of our appreciation for you and all things mochi during this Indigenous People's Holiday weekend, below is a reward that can be used during your next visit!

Hurry! Offer ends at the end of the day Monday 10/12!

Coupon only good on new transaction and cannot be applied to previously made transactions. Must be redeemed in stores or online only. Expires end of day 11:59pm on Monday 10/12/2026.

Click here for a free 15% coupon at THIRD CULTURE BAKERY!

10/09/2026

Hello GOURD-geous!🎃😎

Cozy fall vibes meets soft squishy chewy comfort. Hand ground spices meets fresh organic pumpkin puree.
Impress your friends and loved ones with these fall baddies 🧡

10/09/2026

Hey Mochi fam, Sam here!

it’s crazy to think that when I first started making mochi muffins in my Home kitchen back in 2014, I was just making a dozen or two at a time while I had a full-time job and doing pop-ups on the weekends. That feels like another life now when I think about it.

I feel so lucky that I get to walk into a kitchen with people who are just as dedicated and passionate about baking as I was all those years ago - like Lucia here who has been with us since 2019. Lucia is now overseeing and helping me manage the thousands of donuts and muffins that we bake and send out into the world each day. If you see Lucia at our Berkeley showroom and kitchen, please say hello and show her some love! Because all these donuts and muffins that you enjoy either from our shops or your local coffee shop, was loving me, made possible by Lucia and her team of extraordinary bakers who are also mothers, Sisters, Strong inspiring human beings.

And in addition to our amazing pastries, I’m beyond proud that we get to serve another immigrant justice, supporting organization with amazing espresso - 1951 Coffee Company thank you Doug and Team for making our espresso dreams come true to pair with our beautiful mochis.

Love,
Sam

10/06/2026

We need to fix some pipes in Walnut Creek 😭
Sorry for the inconvenience fam - we’ll be back Friday 10/9 in the Creek🙏💕

10/06/2026

Matcha’s roasty cousin!
She’s toasty, malty, chocolatey, and half as energetic, and very very delicious.

A great way to enjoy matcha differently - made from oven roasting tencha green tea - the green tea variety that matcha is made from. That’s why ours is Roasted matcha, because we roast actual matcha leaves before stone grinding! Versus regular hojicha is just roasted sencha green tea.

Come try it iced or hot - hot feels like a cozy hug ;)

❤️💞❤️

10/06/2026

Hello mochi fam! Your bakery dads here.

About a month ago, we quietly introduced our first Koicha matcha (濃茶: meaning thick tea) onto our permanent menu in Berkeley and we really didn’t know how it was going to be received. Were people ready? Would they understand the specialness of this thick matcha? Would people be into it?

Safe to say, after selling over 200 beautiful cups of the thick matcha, people were into it.

And tomorrow we embark on our journey to Kyoto to host our first ever matcha retreat - where we are taking a group of 10 people through a curated learning experience and seeing behind the scenes of where our Matcha comes from. Including seeing the behind-the-scenes making of this specialty thick Koicha matcha.

We are so thankful for all the support, and for so many people loving on our matcha that we painstakingly source and maintain its quality through careful and very thoughtful relationship, relationships with farmers, producers, and many other vendors that make it possible. And to are Japanese team member that’s on the ground making all the logistics possible, Narumi san, we thank you🫶

Follow along in our stories as we show you our side of Kyoto and beyond for the next few weeks.

Always,
Sam & Wenter

10/03/2026

Never should’ve trusted us with a latte printer🙃
Espressos now at Berkeley🤎