We are very grateful to the many people who appreciate Ippodo matcha and drink it on a regular basis. We also want to thank those who have recently taken an interest in matcha and have chosen Ippodo as the place to come for matcha and other authentic Japanese tea products.

We have been receiving an increasing amount of feedback and questions regarding the flavour of Ippodo matcha, so we would like to take this opportunity to explain what goes into producing matcha’s flavour, and our thinking about this process.

How we create the taste of Ippodo matcha

Ippodo matcha is produced by blending tea from multiple tea fields, rather than just one. This is done with the aim of producing complex flavour and maintaining stable taste and quality.

In our blends, we put great importance on flavour and fragrance, but also consider factors like the vibrancy of the matcha colour. But we place the most importance on the taste.

Another important point is that the umami flavour, body, and tones that linger on the palate are appropriate for each grade of matcha.

We also check the fragrance, looking for anything that would be a shortcoming for a matcha, such as, a smoky aroma, and confirm that the fragrance is appropriate for that grade of matcha.

We check that the hue is right for each grade of matcha, as well. The higher the grade, the more vibrant green the matcha will be, and the lower the grade, the more the matcha’s green colour becomes mixed with hints of yellow or white, and the colour becomes less vibrant.

How we produce our matcha flavour

Matcha, gyokuro, sencha, and bancha are all made from the tea plant. Each type of tea acquires its distinctive properties due to the way it is cultivated.

At the cultivation stage, matcha and gyokuro come from tea plants that are shaded from the sun when the leaf buds emerge. This approach reduces bitterness, concentrates umami and sweetness, and changes the fragrance.

Sencha and bancha teas, which are grown in fields where the tea plants can soak up the sunlight, are known for having wonderfully refreshing fragrances. On the other hand, matcha and gyokuro, which are grown in the shade, possess a magnificent fragrance that fills the palate and stays with you. It is a fragrance that brings to mind the ocean or seaweed, and is more pronounced with teas that are grown in fields that are more thoroughly shaded.

Matcha and gyokuro tea trees are only given a limited amount of the sunlight they need in order to grow. For this reason, producers need to supplement their nutrition with fertilizer to help tea trees that have weakened recover. The ingredients of this fertilizer are also part of what gives our matcha its distinctive flavour.

The different grades of matcha

The special way in which matcha and gyokuro are grown puts extra stress on the tea plants. For that reason, the highest grades of matcha are often only harvested and produced once a year.

However, lower grades of matcha can be harvested and produced several times a year. Matcha produced in autumn is subject to different conditions of sunlight than matcha produced during the period between spring and early summer. In autumn, the tea plants will produce leaves that are dark green even if they are not grown in the shade. Consequently, they are cultivated in unshaded fields, and the resulting matcha is mainly used as an ingredient for confections.

Fragrance that brings to mind the ocean or seaweed

Customers sometimes contact us about our high-grade matcha, asking about its fragrance, describing it as reminiscent of the ocean or seaweed. Some find it peculiar that tea would have such a fragrance.

This is a fragrance that is unique to matcha, and results from the fact that the tea plants are grown in fields that are sufficiently shaded from sunlight in order to draw out the maximum amount of umami and sweetness. We see this fragrance as a sign of high quality.

Maintaining an ongoing dialogue with customers

The strength of this fragrance produced from shade cultivation varies to some degree from one production lot to another. Nevertheless, during our tea manufacturing process, we work to keep the overall fragrance within a certain range.

However, it is true that some customers are surprised by this fragrance. To support the creation of products that deliver value and delight to more customers, we plan to place more emphasis on maintaining a close dialogue with customers as we develop our products.

We hope that this post has been informative, and that it will be the start of further dialogue with customers. We have focused here on discussing our matcha’s unique fragrance, which is reminiscent of the ocean or seaweed, and how it is a natural result of the production process.

I would like to thank everyone who has engaged with us already by sending feedback and comments. Please continue to feel free to contact us if you have any questions or points that you would like to share. We appreciate your support, and look forward to serving you in the future.

Masakazu Watanabe, President
Ippodo Tea Co., Ltd.