Introductory offer price of Kuma san’s first ever kirari 31 matcha.

First Harvest / Stone Ground / Usucha grade

Single cultivar Kirari 31

Kuma san is a 3rd generation tea famer/producer in Jouyoumachi in Yame, Fukuoka prefecture. This matcha comes from the 2025 spring harvest (picked in mid May 2025), the very first time Kuma san releases kirari 31 matcha, processed into tencha (leaf form), and a rather long jukusei (aging) period, which rounds out some sharper tasting notes.

The flavour profile of this tea has the characteristic satisfying tea leaf flavour that we have come to recognise and love about Kuma san’s matcha, and is somewhat comparable to his Okumidori matcha which is also direct shaded, machine harvest, and stone ground. Sweet, savoury, slightly sharp, and a noticeable but not overwhelming bitterness make this matcha suited in general to longer serves (long green etc). However, for experienced matcha drinkers, and while it is not koicha grade matcha, please try preparing as koicha at least once! When the intensity is so high, the umami becomes extremely satisfying, although paired with a very apparent (but not long lasting) darkness/sharpness. 

For fans of japanese tea, please look forward to a unique flavour profile which sits in it’s own category, separate from our Uji matcha or other Yame matcha!

All photos are from our most recent visit to Kuma san and the tea field photos (except the chashaku scoop photo and the very last photo at his award winning Saemidori field) are from the exact Kirari31 field where this tea was grown! We also prepared the same matcha for him in person too!

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

About Matcha Freshness:

Kuma san suggests to enjoy his matcha within 6 months from being stone ground. Other quality tea producers suggest 7 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 of 6-8 microns. As we push towards increasing the transparency from the origin of the tea all the way to the final consumer, we are adding the stone 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.