2024 harvest sold out

Honzu Saibai / First Harvest / Hand Picked / Stone Ground / Koicha Grade

Single cultivar Saemidori

(Honzu saibai refers to traditional rice straw shading, which is a much more labour intensive and care-driven way of shading)

Grown in the same way as Yame Dentou Hon Gyokuro, this cultivar, Saemidori, is not to be confused as Samidori (a popular tencha cultivar). 

Kuma san is a 3rd generation tea famer/producer in Jouyoumachi in Yame, Fukuoka prefecture. The tencha field sits on the same plot of land as his award winning gyokuro (which won him the no.1 gyokuro in the 71st national chahinpyoukai - National Tea Competition, 2017). Next to this tea field is a chestnut tree in which Kuma san’s mum uses to make kuri manjuu (a chestnut wagashi) that we were lucky enough to taste during our previous visits (best manjuu ever!!!).

This matcha comes from the 2024 spring harvest, after which the tencha (leaf form) has gone through a jukusei aging period, which allows the tasting notes to be more settled and round rather than sharp. Expect a very clean umami with richness, along with a strong, creamy, and lingering chestnut sweetness that finishes with walnut notes. Delicious in both koicha and usucha. 

Regular guests will know that we are extremely picky when it comes to adding new teas to our selection, so rest assured this tea is extremely special and if you are a match drinker we know you will love it!

This matcha has also won both Gold Award & Best In Show in the Leafies Awards held in London in November 2024. 

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.