Matcha - AJISAI

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About Matcha in general:
Matcha in kanji means ground tea, but doesn’t specify exactly which tea leaves are used - the large majority of high grade matcha is ground from tencha, though occasionally gyokuro (the king of Japanese teas) may be used. Tencha and gyokuro are grown in relatively the same way; covered from the sun and grown in varying amounts of shade for the last 16-30 days prior to harvest. This covering blocks direct sunlight and interrupts photosynthesis, stressing the plant and changing the flavour of the tea as the amino acids inside the tea leaves are prevented from changing into catechins, resulting in a higher level of amino acids (which give umami flavour and sweetness) in shaded tea compared to unshaded tea. The difference between tencha and gyokuro is after being steamed and dried there is no need for tencha to be rolled as it is usually ground into matcha, whereas gyokuro leaves are rolled into thin needle shapes. It has been speculated that lower grade matcha that is more yellow in colour or particularly bitter could have been ground from later harvest tea, or sencha or bancha tea leaves which are not grown under any shade at all. Second and later harvest tea have much lower levels of amino acids, and much higher levels of catechins (astringency and some bitterness). A notion that we have perpetuated is that quality matcha should always be stone ground from first harvest tea. With Ajisai, we are in for a very interesting lesson!

About this specific matcha:
In Japan there are three main categories of matcha; matcha which can be made as usucha or koicha, matcha which is for making usucha but not suitable for koicha, and culinary grade matcha. Ajisai (meaning hydrangea in Japanese) is a machine ground blend of first harvest tencha cultivars from Yame, Fukuoka, in a small village known for tea and star-gazing called Hoshinomura (which means ‘star’s village’). From the same 10th rank chashi behind Mokuren, Ajisai has the personality of a sweet, light bodied, nutty matcha with subtle floral/citrus notes, a pleasant astringency, minimal bitterness, and no ‘unclean’ notes at all, and an aroma that mirrors these characteristics. Crafted specifically for blending with milk or baking, you can also enjoy it as a long green (matcha americano) to highlight the sweetness, nuttiness, and slight florality/citrus. When poured over ice, a softer profile with less astringency can be enjoyed. If you would like to enjoy the flavour of the tea itself alone, try preparing it with water at a ratio of 2g : 60-120ml, either hot or iced. We are also proud to be able to say of Ajisai that the natural sweetness and nutty umami still shine through! This is extremely rare for a matcha that also pairs so well with milk and in bakes.

One important attribute of Ajisai that we are excited to highlight and talk about is that very interestingly, it is a machine ground matcha. Overseen by a 10th rank chashi and using first harvest tencha, Ajisai represents a strong challenge to the notion that quality matcha can only be stone ground matcha - that we have perpetuated ourselves for a long time. Ajisai shows us that by using quality first harvest tencha, machine grinding is a viable option for a long green / latte / baking matcha.

Before launching this matcha we taste tested it across multiple days prepared in a multitude of ways; koicha, usucha, light usucha, long green (hot, whisked hot then iced, cold whisked then iced), intense and light matcha lattes with Bonsoy (hot and iced), intense and light matcha lattes with both Estate Dairy and Brades dairy milk (hot and iced). Although not recommended to prepare as koicha, it wasn’t actually bad at all!. We can confidently say that this matcha has its own personality which is similar but distinct from Mokuren, and is itself a quality matcha in its own right that represents fantastic value for money especially considering the state of the current matcha market in both price and availability.

Tasting notes: light body, nutty, hint of floral/citrus.

Whisking matcha and milk together is possible but requires much more thorough chasen cleaning, and the risk of milk/matcha deposits building up on the chasen tines is high. We recommend making matcha bases only with matcha and water, then adding it to milk or adding milk to it.

Matcha latte art below by Kirann (Just Between Friends)

Hot or iced matcha latte:
Matcha: 4-5g
Water: 50-60ml @ ~70°C
Milk or milk alternative: 165ml hot or iced
Sift the matcha into a bowl and pour in the hot water, then preheat your chasen and whisk quickly but gently - taking care not to damage the chasen by using too much force. Smooth glazed bowls are best for this! Combine with hot or iced milk - for Haruka matcha we prefer dairy or oat. Rinse chasen asap.

Cha-ology’s hot or iced matcha latte:
Matcha: 6.5g
Water: 65ml @ ~70°C
Milk or milk alternative: 110ml hot or iced
Sift the matcha into a bowl and pour in the hot water, then preheat your chasen and whisk quickly but gently - taking care not to damage the chasen by using too much force. Smooth glazed bowls are best for this! Combine with hot or iced milk - for Haruka matcha we prefer dairy or oat. Rinse chasen asap.

Iced usucha/light usucha/long green (long green name coined by Saul of The Wandering Goblin):
Matcha: 2g
Water: 60/90/120ml @ ~70°C
Sift matcha into a bowl and pour hot water over, then preheat chasen in hot water for 10 seconds and whisk rapidly, slowing down towards the end to remove bigger bubbles. Pour over lots of ice. Rinse chasen asap.

Storage:
Store in a cold environment (6-10°C) and avoid exposure to light, air, heat, moisture and strong smells - these will degrade your tea. Once opened, best consumed within 1-2 months. Squeeze out excess air from bag before sealing.

About Matcha Freshness:

Ajisai’s tea producer suggests to enjoy quality matcha within 6-7 months from being ground. Other quality tea producers suggest 6 months, some suggest 8 months. In our opinion, any use by date longer than 9 months is a sign that the seller doesn’t care much about freshness of matcha - a non oxidised tea with particle sizes in the single digit micron (thousandth of a millimeter) range. As we push towards increasing the transparency from the origin of the tea all the way to the final consumer, we are adding the grind date to all matcha purchased from us along with a suggested use by date (unopened). We challenge everyone looking to buy matcha to enquire about the grind date for the matcha you are buying, and we challenge all matcha sellers to provide this date as it is the only date that matters concerning the freshness of the tea before it is opened.

Once opened, high quality matcha’s freshness is best enjoyed within 4 weeks. Again, some tea producers suggest less, and others are more lenient. We want the final consumer of the tea to have the essential information (grind date and open date) to be able to keep track of when the matcha was ground and when it was opened, to decide for themselves how strict/lenient to be. To encourage this, there will also be a small space on the matcha pack/can for you to write the date you open the matcha. We want you to see if you notice the flavour change over time, and come to your own conclusions about how important freshness is!

We know that while the tea is safe to consume for much longer than 6-8 months after grinding, it is a target to set that allows the bright vivid flavours to still be enjoyed. The longer the matcha sits unopened the more dull the flavours will become. Fridge storage will help to delay the flavour degradation, and for room temperature storage we would recommend to use within 3-6 months. We don’t have much experience with freezing matcha but if you would like to, it is a good idea to refrigerate for one day before freezing and again after removing from the freezer (and then place in room temperature for a few hours before opening) to slow the temperature changes.