Kimberley's Kyusu

It’s Matcha Monday, so to celebrate the start of a new (and hopefully much warmer week), I want to introduce you to Kiroku Tea Farm and their single cultivar Asanoka Matcha from Wazuka, Kyoto.

Produced by Tencha farmers from Wazuka, Kyoto, sisters Ui and Megumi Hori, along with their mother, this is a small batch matcha, with the harvest of tencha used to create it yielding around 1-2 dozen kg. The tencha used to create this matcha is from a new and still rare cultivar called Asanoka.

The Asanoka cultivar was registered in Kagoshima in 1996, and was made from a cross between the common Yabukita cultivar and a Chinese cultivar registered as Hiramizu #1.

Before my first session with this matcha, I had never tried any teas produced using this cultivar, so I went into this session with so much intrigue as to what this cultivar would be like and what qualities it had taken from the two cultivars combined to create it.

The first thing you get from this matcha’s flavour profile is mellow, grassy, umami notes and then around 5-6 seconds after you sip, you get a sweetness that completely envelops the tongue. It’s soft and delicate, but very noticeable and reminded me of  freshly baked sugar cookies. There’s also lingering notes of Greek yogurt present with its trademark tanginess / bite, alongside notes of green apple slices and whipped honey, roasted chestnuts and steamed sweet potato. If left to cool in the chawan, it becomes extremely creamy and tastes a lot like double pouring cream straight out of the fridge.

That creaminess, when combined with the rest of the notes within the flavour profile, makes this the perfect matcha to start the day with as it is mellow, light, airy, fresh, creamy and perfectly balanced. The balance of this matcha is imperative, as without the vegetal aspects of this matcha, many may even consider it to be too sweet, and without the sweetness many would conder it to grassy and bitter.

When it comes down to texture this tea is an absolute dream to drink and has a creamy, light and airy texture overall that reminded me of aerated white chocolate, it has that Greek yogurt sharpness that mostly resides on the side of the tongue, but this is mellow and gone in a flash so it does not hinder the overall enjoyment of this matcha.  

There is no dryness or chalkiness when it comes to the finish of this matcha in the mouth. It is light, airy and refreshing, like a fresh spring morning by the sea. It’s aftertaste is slightly juicy, creamy and sweet with lingering notes of buttery sugar cookies, Greek yogurt tanginess and a hint of dried mint.

Should you want to try this matcha in particular or any other matcha produced by Kiroku Tea, head over their page on the Yunomi website and when you place your order don’t forget to use my code INFKKYU to get 1000yen off of an order of 5000yen or more.

Until next time. Happy Steeping – Kimberley