Matcha "Shoyo no Mukashi"

抹茶昭陽の昔

Origin
Tencha: Uji, Kyoto

Milled in: Nagoya, Aichi 

This is a deep matcha with a satiating, heavy mouth feel that is lifted by its lean flavour. This paradoxical sensation is so captivating, the experience of this tea stays with us for a long time after it is finished.

It lines the edges of our mouth with flower petals, and presses down on our tongue to open space for itself. The top notes are fruity and creamy, like lychee, balanced perfectly by a vegetal and gentle mid-palate. But this tea is so balanced, it really takes the words out of our mouths: exactly what we look for in a ceremonial matcha. 

2g ⋅ 80°C ⋅ 60ml ⋅ bamboo whisk

. . .

Ikkoen Chaho is a tiny tea shop founded in 1947 by Hiroshi Mitsuo in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. Now it is run by the son of Hiroshi and his wife, Chie Mitsuo. We visited their shop in March, which has been in the same building since it opened, and met the gracious Chie Mitsuo, who showed us their incredible facilities for milling matcha.

Ikkoen Chaho is an anomaly in Cultivate’s collection, mainly because they do not farm their own tea. Instead, they purchase high quality tencha from Uji, Kyoto that they use to mill their own matcha. 

Their shop is home to 3 traditional matcha mills that they use to make tencha from Uji into matcha. These machines have been used and maintained here since the shop opened in 1947. They are beautiful pieces of equipment, each housed in a wooden case and run by a steady conveyor belt.

For how small their shop and production is, Ikkoen Chaho are surprisingly well known in the matcha industry in Japan, and a name that many Sado teachers quietly and assuredly recommend. This is all to say that the matcha from Ikkoen Chaho is very precious; the 3 stone mills produce roughly 30 grams of matcha per hour.

The shop has no website, no online presence, only a single store in Nagoya. We are very proud to offer 3 ceremonial matcha from Ikkoen Chaho at Cultivate.