Premium Select Matcha 20g Can

¥4,000

Quantity

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# Cans # For a strong matcha flavour # Koicha # Limited supply # Matcha # Rich # Unavailable with Shincha # Usucha

About our
premium select series

Kanza / Kuon / Premium Select Matcha

The tea plant, a member of the camellia family, becomes astringent when exposed to the sun. So this matcha is made exclusively with young tea leaves carefully cultivated in tea fields that were completely covered in order to create a highly shaded area to curb astringency and bring out richer sweetness. Growing new leaf buds while keeping them in near-darkness is extremely challenging. Considerable experience is needed to achieve the skill required to manufacture tea that brings out the ingredients of the delicate, freshly picked young tea leaves to their fullest.

Only a limited quantity of these carefully handpicked, premium select tea leaves can be grown. The ultimate expression of tea growers’ passion for Japanese tea, this matcha has a flavour that should be savoured.

Our Premium Select Matcha is characterized by a smooth mouthfeel and a refined, elegant flavour. Savour the luxurious flavour and fragrance produced by the abundance of rich nutrients that the tea leaves absorbed.

Smooth texture, like whipped cream A perfect partner for rich, densely flavoured desserts

Premium Select Matcha is a very rare matcha made using the finest, carefully handpicked tea leaves grown using meticulous cultivation management backed by the full knowledge and experience of the tea growers. Only a limited quantity of tea leaves of this quality can be produced, so only a limited supply is available for sale.

Unlike our matcha products sold year-round that have their own consistent flavours, the flavour of our Premium Select Matcha blend changes from year to year, allowing you to savour the unique flavour of the current year’s harvest.

Being able to enjoy the different tastes of each year’s harvest is one of the true joys of this matcha. In 2023, the matcha had a smooth mouthfeel, while the 2024 matcha had full, refined body.

How does it taste?

Unlike with our matcha products sold throughout the year that each possess their own consistent flavour, the flavour of our Premium Select Matcha blend changes from year to year, allowing you to savour a unique flavour that is only available that year.

Being able to enjoy the different tastes of each year’s harvest is one of the true joys of this matcha.

“This year’s Premium Select Matcha has a rich, refined taste, and yet it feels light, making it easy to drink for a premium matcha. It has prominent sweetness, gentle lingering tones, the scent of mild young buds, and the kind of magnificent fragrance that matcha and gyokuro possess due to being grown in shaded tea fields. It is a magnificently balanced gem.”
_______ Yagi, Inspection Team

“You can appreciate the magnificent, mild fragrance of matcha and gyokuro that comes from the leaves being shaded as they grow. That is truly the mark of a premium tea.”
_______ Miyata, Inspection Team

How/when to enjoy it?

It’s great as a morning matcha with a light kick to wake you up both mentally and physically, or as a drink to increase concentration before an important presentation. This kind of special matcha is also very good for serving to guests. Even people who don’t normally drink matcha will like it because of the wonderful texture that makes it a joy to drink. This is a matcha you will want to share with important people in your life!

What to enjoy it with?

You can either savour the pure taste of matcha by drinking it by itself, or enjoy it with your favourite sweets. It has prominent fragrance and umami flavour, so you can pair it with a wide range of rich sweets, either Japanese and Western, such as brandy cake or confections baked with lots of butter.

How do Ippodo staff enjoy it?

We recommend preparing it with the same amount of matcha powder as for usucha, but with a little less water—for example, if you usually use 60 ml, use 50 ml—giving a slightly thicker texture. To fully appreciate the flavour and fragrance that stream over the palate, choose something like a sizeable cafe au lait bowl with a big opening that fits satisfyingly in your hands, or a Wannari matcha chawan, which has an opening wide enough to ensure that your nose picks up the full fragrance.