This is a preorder item for collection or postage at the end of July (if you are ordering other items together, they will be posted at the same time, unless otherwise stated - extra postage will incur). 

We are currently placing a limit of a maximum of 1 unit per person. If you order more than 1, the extra charge will be refunded minus a £5 (or more) administration fee.

Meet Mokuren’s sister - Ajisai - it means hydrangea in Japanese.

From the same 10th rank chashi behind Mokuren, Ajisai has the personality of a sweet, light bodied, nutty matcha with subtle floral notes, a pleasant astringency, minimal bitterness, and no ‘unclean’ notes at all, and an aroma that mirrors these characteristics. Ajisai means hydrangea in Japanese. 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. 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 introduce 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. 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.

Try Ike no Shiro if you are looking for a matcha to enjoy as usucha, or Seiju/Houju if you are looking to prepare matcha as koicha or usucha.

Read about our recipe for creating a delicious iced matcha soy and our blogpost about how to choose matcha.

Region: Hoshinomura, Yame, Fukuoka



Small tip: Remember to always sift matcha before preparation! Here is our recommended matcha tea strainer.

About Matcha Freshness:

Ajisai’s tea producer suggest to enjoy 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 know or care much about freshness of matcha - a non oxidised tea with particle sizes in the single digit microns 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 (stone 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.