Matcha "Kakegawa" (For Matcha Latte)

掛川抹茶

Harvest
2023

Origin
Kakegawa, Shizuoka, Japan

In our most recent sourcing trip to Japan in March, we visited all three of the major producing regions of matcha: Yame, Uji and Shizuoka. The intention was both to learn more about matcha and how it relates to terroir, and to expand our offerings of matcha back home at Cultivate. .

We drove through the beautiful forests of Yame, visited the vast, covered tea fields dedicated to matcha in Uji, and visited the stunning mountain ranges of Shizuoka. We met with tea producers and companies in all three regions, and after tasting countless types of matcha and hojicha, we selected one new matcha powder, specifically blended to be made as a latte, to add to our collection of matcha latte powders at Cultivate. It goes without saying that we are very impressed by it!

This matcha is from the Kakegawa region in Shizuoka, one of the key producing regions of tea in Shizuoka. Compared to Yame, the mountains in Shizuoka are bigger and the region is more expansive. This means we see more variation in Shizuoka matcha, which allowed us to really hone in on the characteristics we were looking for in our next matcha latte.

Kakegawa matcha makes a truly delicious latte, and one that is very different from our Yamabuki matcha. It stands out at first for how bright, fresh smelling, and luminous the tea powder itself is. It whisks into a smooth suspension very easily, gathering a substantial foam on top of its liquor. Pouring it into milk softens its rich green colour into a vibrant pastel. We can tell that the matcha is inherently creamy, as its taste blends inseparably with the taste of the milk. While it has a strong and captivating aftertaste, its mouthfeel and character is very light and weightless. We think this is the perfect matcha for summer – it's refreshing and, in all ways, uplifting.