Matcha on Ice Cream

Sprinkle matcha on Ice cream. It might be hard to tell the difference on the photo, but a huge difference when you taste.

【Hand-picked matcha ground by stone mill (left)】  

            -- deeper and more vivid green in colour, finer texture,  milder and sweeter taste.

 

【Cooking grad matcha ground by machine (right) 】  

              -- a bit dull and yellowish green in colour, rougher texture, and bitter.

 

Both matcha are from Ujitawara city in Kyoto.

 

Japanese Oolong in Mariko

 【Japanese Oolong by Mr Niroku Muramatsu in Shizuoka】

Mr Muramatsu,  who will turn 81 soon, is a leading tea master of Japanese black and oolong tea world. Without him, Japanese black tea industry wouldn't have revitalized as we see now. Unfortunately, bad things happened one after another to him last year, but his passion and love to tea never fades. Age is just a number.

Clear and golden liquor has a full of floral aroma like orchid. A round texture with a gentle aftertaste lingers  beautifully.

Bancha

I found a harbinger of spring, "ume (Japanese plum)" blossoms at a local small shrine. 

I also found another sign of spring, "yomogi mochi (a Japanese herb flavored sweets)" at a tiny tea house in the shrine. How can I resist it!? Together with "bancha". 

Bancha is tea usually made from late summer or autumn leaves in a local method as a daily tea for local people. So when we say "bancha", it has different meanings and different characters from region to region. 

In any case, bancha is considered low-grade and inexpensive. But drinking bancha on such a beautiful place and day is priceless. It was what I felt grateful for on this day.

Uji Cha LOVE Tea Party 2021

I joined a webinar from Ujitawara town known as “the birthplace of Japanese green tea” where Mr Soen Nagatani, who invented sencha production method, was born. 

We tried tasting flight using several kinds of wonderful tea (all made in Ujitawara) sent by the the town in advance.

1) From left to right: Sencha/Hand-picked Gyokuro / Kabusecha.

Especially, gyokuro is so beautiful. Glossy, dark green color and beautiful needle shape. Of course, it has a lot of umami.

                       

 2) From left to right:Hand-picked Matcha /  Machine-picked Matcha /  Cooking grade Matcha 

Cooking grade has a bitterness, and the color is not vivid enough. On the other hand, hand-picked matcha has a smooth texture and milder and frothy when you make. 

When the situation gets better, I would love to visit Ujitawara again.

The farther of Japanese green tea, Mr Nagatani Soen and the house where he was born.