HOUSE MILLED MATCHA - HOSOI SAN'S 100% OKUMIDORI

Milling Date: March 1, 2024

Lovingly milled by Sakura Kondo San on our home Bisaiki.

We LOVE this tea, and we still can't get over the silky smooth mouthfeel, luscious nose, glowing green emerald colour and rich umami, this tea has been a favourite at the bar.

We find that this particular tencha is best expressed when we mill it at a lower temperature (0°C, re-filling the cooling system of our matcha mill with ice).  Whereas higher temperatures bring out a pleasant, roasted flavour, adding ice to the mill delivers stunning umami and silky finish.

Origin:  Wazuka (Kyoto), Japan

Grower:  Hosoi Kenta.  His family began farming tea in the Meiji Era, in Wazuka (one of the most traditional tea-growing regions in Kyoto).  He only started farming tea for tencha 10 years ago; his favourite cultivar for this purpose is okumidori.  Hosoi San's main passion is farming; he believes (and we couldn't agree more) that healthy earth and plants are the basis for mind-blowing tea.  

Cultivar:  OKUMIDORI (おくみどり) has long been one of our favourite cultivars.  With rich umami and low astringency, this relatively rare cultivar (reportedly accounting for less than 3% of Japan’s yearly harvest) was first developed for sencha, in Shizuoka, in the 1970s.   

About our House Mill:

In 2018, after visiting several Japanese matcha mill producers, we purchased our first grinder.  The objective was to micro-mill hojicha and a variety of tisanes (like dok anchan, for our Blue Matcha).

After playing with the machine and falling in love with freshly milled matcha, we decided to splurge on a second machine, located at our tea bar, to offer other matcha geeks some of the freshest tea possible.  We select a rotating assortment of tencha from some of our favourite growers (preserved frozen, in airtight containers).  Geoff and Baily micro-mill small batches every week or two, experimenting with different grinding variables, to offer a delicious tea for everyday enjoyment.