Kimberley's Kyusu

This Matcha Monday, I want to introduce you Nio Teas & their Kyoto Matcha Masudaen. This matcha is carefully crafted using a blend of three cultivars: Yabukita, Sayamakaori, and Okumidori. It is cultivated by Mr. Masuda, a skilled tea farmer from Shizuoka who oversees a substantial tea field. 

In addition to this matcha, he also cultivates other grades of matcha from his tea field, The first harvest of tea plants yields ceremonial grade matcha that is silky smooth enough to enjoy plain, whereas later harvests are used to make matcha that blends perfectly with lattes.

The aroma of this matcha is buttery & creamy, with sweet notes of oatmeal drizzled with honey, slightly caramelised white chocolate and rice crispy squares alongside savoury notes of buttered steamed sweetcorn, steamed new potatoes with butter and parsley, sharp vegetals & an underpinning of fresh countryside air.

Upon sipping, I was met with a little more of a savoury experience than I was initially expecting. It still retains a light creaminess, however the notes of savoury notes of buttered steamed sweetcorn, sharp vegetals and steamed new potatoes with butter and parsley are what reign supreme within the flavour profile of this matcha, finishing with a somewhat floral astringency and lingering notes of roasted nuts coated in a thin layer of white chocolate.

There is astringency to this matcha & therefore I do think it is best suited to usucha as opposed to koicha as that aspect of it paired with the heavier savoury elements would cause it to become overwhelming when prepare as koicha.

In textureit is smooth, with a butter like texture that is creamy, slight salted and oily without being greasy. However at the back of tounge & into the throat, there is a lingering dryness. The finish is long lasting with lingering floral astringency & notes of wilted kale, steamed new potatoes with butter & parsley & lemon zest.

Because this matcha does tend to lean more towards the savoury end of the scale, I have found that in pairs incredibly well with almost any sweet treat you put alongside it. I have over the last few weeks had a bowl of this matcha with, sponge cake filled with raspberry jam and vanilla buttercream, finished with vanilla buttercream and sugar sprinkles, tarte au citron, yuzu mochi & Tonys Chocolonely’s 32% milk chocolate, all of which did a fantastic job of amplifying the overall sweetness, subduing the astringency and overall providing a sense of balance to the overall experience this matcha provides.

This is matcha is full of unique notes and on the surface wouldn’t usually be something I would reach for, however I’m beyond happy to have been pushed out of my comfort zone by it as I did end up really enjoying the overall experience it provided & how well it ended up pairing with so many different sweet treats.

Art Pairing: Sakamoto, Gosyu. – Kinichiro Ishikawa

For this pairing I wanted pick a piece of art that linked back to the tea in more than just it’s colour palette or subject matter, instead focusing on the location. I went in search of an artist who, just like this tea, was born in Shizuoka, and in my research I was introduced to Kinichiro Ishikawa for the first time.

Kinichiro Ishikawa was born in Shizuoka City, on August 8th 1871, He was a water colour painter & taught part time in Taipei and full time at the Taiwan Mandarin Institute. He was a pioneer of art education, promoting western art education in Taiwan, where he initiated the art and culture monthly meeting and the tea party. He also directed the Seven Star Painting Society, the Taiwan Watercolour Painting Society and the Keelung Asian Painting Association, alongside school art workshops and courses for amateurs.

This painting conveys a feeling of quiet beauty & the harmonious connection between humans & nature. It exemplifies Ishikawa’s skill in capturing the essence of a landscape through the delicate and expressive qualities of watercolour. The colour palette is predominantly soft and natural, featuring muted greens, yellows, browns, and the pale blues and whites of the sky. The subtle variations in color within the trees suggest the play of light and shadow and the different stages of foliage.

Aside from the aforementioned location connection, there are also other links between this painting and the matcha when it comes to the tasting notes, the variations in green capturing each stage of the matcha from leaf to bowl, so much so in fact that the entirety of the bottom of the painting looks like it could even be painted in matcha.

The creamy texture and subtle notes of white chocolate is captured in the spots of cream and white throughout the canvas, the aroma note of fresh countryside air captured in the whispy clouds and the use of a medium such a watercolor that has always created such a dreamlike feeling in art for me. 

If you want to try this matcha for yourself you can find it on the Nio Teas website.

Use code KIMBERLEYSKYUSU15 for 15% off your Nio Teas order – If you purchase via this affiliate link, it will automatically be added to your cart. (I get a small commission when you use the code or link)

Until next time, Happy steeping – Kimberley