Uji Okumidori Matcha (Organic)

While most matcha on the market is blended for taste, Farmer Kanemoto-san has crafted an incredibly balanced Single-cultivar Organic Matcha, where you can taste the idiosyncrasies of the Okumidori cultivar. Our Okumidori Matcha is a beautiful balance of umami, sweetness, and florality, free from astringency. This is in part due to the skilled craftsmanship of Kanemoto-san, but also due to the terroir of Wazuka (where tea has been cultivated for 800 years).

This tea benefits from the clay mineral rich soil of the Wazuka river valley, as well as the kirika (霧) or fog that is caused by the drastic temperature differences between day and night. The tea plant benefits from this natural shading, as the lack of photosynthesis prevents the plant from converting the sweet amino acids to the astringent catechins, leading to a mellow pleasant brew. On top of the natural shading, Kanemoto-san also shades the tea trees ~30 days before picking, adjusting to the environmental factors.

This matcha has very vibrant green color. When making it in the form of Usucha (thin matcha), the light green liquor has gentle umami taste and oat creaminess in the front, with sweet fruity notes of green date soon embracing the mouth, and after swallowing, the fruity aroma turns into dandelion floral sweetness, lingering in the tip of the tongue and sides of the mouth.

The price/quality ratio of this tea is hard to beat and we’re super excited to share this wonderful tea with you all.

* We want to clarify that in the world of matcha, “Ceremonial-grade” is a western marketing term to designate matcha that is of a quality better than “Culinary-grade”. In Japan, “Ceremonial-grade” as a concept does not exist. There are not only different grading systems depending on the region and company, but also every of the more than 30 schools of Cha Do Tea Ceremony has different characteristics for their school’s ceremonial matcha. So we feel calling a tea “Ceremonial-grade” is not only empty words, but also does a disservice to matcha actually made for Cha Do tea ceremony school practitioners. You can taste the quality of the tea, no need for buzzwords.