Matcha Daimatsu (大松抹茶, meaning “great pine”) is premium matcha from the Yoshida Mei tea garden, specially selected for Zhao Zhou.
Matcha (抹茶), the powdered green tea, is the zenith of the Japanese tea ceremony.
Similar to Gyokuro, the tea plants are shaded for three weeks before the harvest so that the leaves stay small, fresh, and juicy, and their taste sweeter and softer.
Like any other Japanese green teas, after plucking, the leaves are steamed and dried. Then, having carefully selected the leaves, they are milled into a soft, bright green powder. This powder-tea is prepared with a bamboo chasen (茶筅, tea whisk) in a chawan (茶碗, tea bowl). The result is an emerald-colored liquid with a rather intense greenish flavor and a sweet, lightsome, jade-like foam – the bigger the foam the better the tea.
Our Japanese tea comes from Uji, Japan's esteemed tea producing region. Yoshida Masahiro and his family have been tending and cultivating the family tea garden for 16 generations, nearly 500 years. They are also the caretakers of the oldest tea garden in Japan, which is a great honour. Japanese teas have such a distinct flavour profile, with green, fresh, lively notes, that they have become an instant favourite. We are very fortunate to be able to drink the teas of a tea garden with such an exceptional tradition.
