Kimberley's Kyusu

This Matcha Monday, I want to introduce you to Nagatani Tea & their Premium Ceremonial Grade, Ujitawara Tenmyo Matcha. This matcha uses a new and rather rare cultivar by the name of Tenmyo which was registered in 2006 and cultivated from a seed of the Samidori cultivar in Uji, Kyoto, with the other parent being Asahi, meaning that this matcha is comprised of two cultivars that are very well known for producing some of highest quality of matcha.

With that in mind, I was incredibly intrigued to experience what this matcha had to offer, so I wasted no time and did my first session with this tea only a day or two after it arrived at my house. Upon opening the tin, and the foil bag within it, I was greeted with a bright green powder that was very soft in texture & as a result, fantastically easy to scoop and sift with my Chashaku.

The aroma of this matcha before the addition of water was incredibly aromatic and much more complex than other matchas I have had before that usually tend to gain complexity after the addition of water. It was buttery, sweet & creamy, with notes of custard filled milk buns, nice biscuits, coconut thin crackers, sweet grassy vegetal notes and subtle floral undertones.

With the addition of water, the aroma changed dramatically with it now containing notes of frosted wheats, udon noodles, soy sauce, black sesame seed paste, coconut thin crackers, shiso (perilla leaf) & a much more prominent grassy vegetal notes that lost a little of that sweet and instead leaned a little more to the savoury end of the scale. Due to the softness of this matcha in texture, it was also very easy to work with when it came to whisking, producing a thick, creamy green micro foam in next to no time.

With how much this matcha quickly changed in terms of its wet and dry aromas, I didn’t know what I was going to find within its flavour profile. I would have enjoyed it no matter if it was sweet and creamy or leant more towards the savoury end of the scale, but luckily there were elements of both the wet and dry aromas mirroring in the way it tastes. That might sound crazy given some of the notes I listed, but luckily it was fantastically well balanced.

The notes found within it’s profile included: custard filled milk buns, frosted wheats, udon noodles, black sesame seed paste, coconut thin crackers, shiso (perilla leaf) & a much more prominent grassy vegetal notes that lost a little of that sweet grassiness and instead took on some savouriness. It also has a fantastic butteriness and a fresh creaminess that did a fantastic job of balancing out that savouriness, and making sure that it’s not too overpowering.

Texturally, it initially has an umami vegetal bite, however it doesn’t stick around for too long so it doesn’t hinder the overall enjoyment. Within a few seconds, it softens and allows a fresh creaminess to appear, under pinned by hints of seaweed that make you feel like your eating ice cream on the beach or on a bench by a marina with the seaside wind blowing on your face & through your hair. There is no dryness present and texturally it is such a pleasure to sip on.

The finish starts off on the savoury side with both seaweed vegetal & water chestnut notes lingering at the front of the mouth, however if you hold off a little on taking your next sip a delightfully sweet floral hard candy note starts to appear at the back of the mouth. this is amplified when you breathe in, which just took this matcha to the next level for me & already has me excited to try more matcha from Nagatani in the future.

Art Pairing: Mihogaseki Beach in Izumo Province (Izumo Mihogaseki), from the series “Souvenirs of Travel, Third Series” (Tabi miyage dai sanshu) (1924) – by Kawase Hasui 川瀬 巴水

As soon as I laid my eyes on this woodblock print there was no other option for this pairing, because I see so many aspects of this matcha within it. The most obvious connection is the location depicted, as I said in my review the fresh creaminess of this matcha underpinned by those seaweed notes made me feel like I saw sitting aside a marina eating ice cream with the fresh seaside wind blowing onto my face and through my hair, and for me that location is captured perfect in this piece.

So much movement is captured within the way that the ripples in the water, the sail of the boat and the clouds were carved in a way that allows you to feel those fresh gusts of wind wash over you as you look at it, and it adds so much action and life to something completely stationary.

The layers of green in the background mirroring the visual changes the matcha goes through as it goes from powder to liquid, its all so perfectly matched that it feels too good to be true and because of that I think it may be one of my favourite art pairings to date.

You can find this tea and more from Nagatani tea over on the Yunomi Website – Here. As always if you plan on making an order and treating yourself to some incredible Japanese tea, remember to use my code INFKKYU to get ¥1000 off an order of ¥5000 or more.

Until next time. Happy Steeping – Kimberley