Mizuba is honored to be one of the few tea companies to whom legendary matcha farmer and producer, Tsuji-san, sells his premier, hand-harvested matcha. We are excited to present you the opportunity to taste his single-estate, unblended, single-cultivar Yabukita Matcha.
About the Yabukita Cultivar:
Fundamental to an understanding of Japanese green tea is knowing and appreciating the taste of the tea cultivar Yabukita . Yabukita is considered the cornerstone flavor of Japanese tea as its taste delivers a well-balanced flavor, elegant aroma, sweetness along with umami, and pleasant astringency. One of the oldest registered cultivars in Japan and most popularly grown (accounting for over 70% of Japan's tea production), Yabukita is often used as a benchmark to evaluate sencha made from other Japanese tea cultivars. While Yabukita may be common, Tsuji-san's spring-harvested Yabukita is the top of its class and a prime example of what to love about Japan’s most iconic flavor.
Having won countless awards in Japan for his teas, 5th-generation master farmer Tsuji san is responsible for one of the greatest matcha experiences you can savor. His tea plants are unpruned, only cultivated with organic fertilizers, and enjoy the most traditional form of shade-growing (the Honzu technique ) in the region's nutritious red clay soil. When the first flush arrives in shincha season (the first crop of the year), the tencha tea leaves are gently harvested by hand and stone-milled to perfection. In fact, Tsuji-san's matcha has the highest concentrations of L-theanine and amino acids ever recorded of any matcha in the world.
やぶきた
How to brew:
Warm your chawan tea bowl with hot water. Place 1.5-2.5g of Yabukita matcha into your chawan. Add 1 ounce of 160ºF-175ºF water to the tea and make koicha (a thick paste). Add about another 1.5-2 ounces to your koicha, and whisk with your chasen until the tea is fully aerated to make usucha. Enjoy!
Tasting notes:
Aroma: Yabukita is fresh and vibrant. Silky, buttery cacao notes with a bit of brightness in the back.
Flavor profile: A softer, lighter mouthfeel than some of our other matcha teas in the Mizuba collection, but Yabukita goes down smooth as silk. Clean, elegant, and pleasant all come to mind as we sip its refreshing flavor. This tea won't laden your palate. The flavor is lighter and more playful making it an easy sipper. Notes of Cadbury milk chocolate and malt.
Size: 30g Tin (15 servings)
Suitable for koicha preparation