TSUJI UJI HIKARI | Single Cultivar Matcha

Tasting notes: toasted yellow lentils, rich umami finish

This tea, like everything in Tsuji San’s top grade offerings, is grown in a Shizen-Shitate (自然仕立て) field:  ‘free growth’ tea trees, strictly pruned and harvested by hand.  Tsuji San’s skills in the use of organic fertilizers and covering the trees with a traditional canopy of hay results in one of the most umami intense teas we’ve tried.

Grower: Tsuji Kiyoharu is a legend; a fifth-generation tea grower, he is the only living matcha farmer to have received awards from the Emperor (3 times!).  He has also earned multiple medals from the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries. Tsuji San started his quest for insane umami when he was only 20 years old; having asked some of the best know tea experts for advice, he invariable received the answer: ’start by learning in the fields’. And so he did; acknowledging that tea fields are a universe of ever-changing variables, Tsuji San has learned to ‘listen’ to his tea trees every single year. Organic fertilizer, shade, harvesting times, and tea-making techniques are adjusted accordingly. We can guarantee that every lot of tea from Tsuji San will be unique… and exceptional.

Recommendations: We LOVE this tea as koicha, and were mind-blown by its pairing with a yuzu flavoured wagashi.   If you prefer a lighter drink in summer, please try a heavier than usual usucha:  2g / 55ml.  

IMPORTANT:  we offer this tea in 20g re-fill packs, freshly milled and packed by Tsuji San at origin.  If you wish to add a Japanese airtight (collectible, re-usable) tin, please do so here.