Matcha Midorizu (緑寿抹茶, meaning “green longevity”) 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.
One of Uji’s ancient tea gardens, the Kōzan-ji (高山寺) temple is tended by the Yoshida family for 16 generations now. This degree of proficiency echoes in their teas too: refined and extremely balanced flavors supplemented with beautiful elegance.
