HONZU SAEMIDORI MATCHA | Yame

Pure Elegant Umami and Refined Natural Sweetness

This competition-awarded winner Koicha grade artisanal Matcha is quietly expressive and aromatically composed. A mellow yet substantial umami unfolds with natural sweetness, a supple, creamy texture, and a long, poised finish that fades with clarity rather than weight.

Crafted from the delicately sweet Saemidori cultivar, this matcha is a refined expression of contemporary Japanese tea making. Grown in Jōyōmachi, Yame (Fukuoka), it is produced by a third generation, multi-award-winning farmer, cultivated alongside his Dentō Hon Gyokuro fields.

Shaded for around 30 days using the traditional Honzu (本蔶) shading method, the plants develop natural sweetness, rounded umami, and aromatic clarity. A slow 2025 spring supported steady nutrient accumulation, followed by a single hand harvest. The finest leaves were processed into tencha, cold aged (jukusei), and stone-ground in small batches.

Pure and composed, this matcha offers firm yet gentle umami, natural sweetness, and notes of buttered edamame, steamed spinach, sweet grass, and subtle almond, with a smooth, rounded texture and long, clean finish. Elegant as Usucha, it gains depth and persistence as Koicha.

Awarded Best in Show Gold at The Leafies 2024 and Highly Commended in 2023, this matcha is produced in only a few kilograms per year, an expressive example of Saemidori and Yame craftsmanship, suited to moments of attention and ceremony.

About the Tea Garden

Located in Jōyōmachi, Yame, this well-known tea garden has over a century of history crafting high grade gyokuro, sencha, matcha, and wakōcha (Japanese black tea), each reflecting the region’s unique terroir.

This garden exemplifies Japanese tea mastery. The third-generation tea master treats Dentō Hon Gyokuro (traditional and strict shading method) as a year long endeavour, from careful shading to hand-picking, seeking to create tea that lingers in memory as much as it satisfies the senses.

Renowned for its Dentō Hon Gyokuro, this tea garden follows traditional methods, including Honzu straw shading and hand-picking harvesting, earning national awards such as a perfect 200-point score in the 2017 National Tea Competition.

Preparation method: Koicha

Cultivar: Saemidori, shizen-jitate, single-cultivar

Origin: Jōyōmachi , Yame, Fukuoka

Grade: Koicha grade, Competition winner

Elevation: 320mt above sea level

Harvest: First flush, Hand-picked (tezumi), Spring 3^rd May 2025

Shade: Honzu natural method, shaded for 40 days before harvest

Fertilising: Rapeseed oil cake, fish cake (tuna and bonito)

Steaming: Medium (futsūmushi)

Flavour profile: Rich Umami, round and sweet, long savoury finish

Producer: Kuma Family

Content: 20g