Limited Edition Competition Grade Matcha

Description

What's better than Ceremonial Grade Matcha? Competition Grade Matcha!

Tsuji-san creates a very small micro-lot of tencha leaves for submission to tea competitions each year. 

Tsuji-sensei -a fifth generation tea farmer- is one of Japan’s top cultivators and producers of Tencha. His Asahi cultivar tea field has helped him win dozens awards over the years at the regional and national level. 

This limited edition version is grown under the same shading as the main batch of leaves, but is a carefully hand-picked batch of just a few kilograms of the very best of the best of these leaves while they are still young, then carefully processed and stone mill ground by hand into some of the finest matcha Japan has to offer. Suffice to say, it sells out as soon as preorders open, and we have secured 3 cans for our discerning customers. 

World-renowned farmer Kiyoharu Tsuji’s Tencha (the green tea used for matcha) has won numerous awards at the Kyoto, West Japan (Kansai), and National levels. A careful selection and processing of this Asahi cultivar is generally used for these competitions.

Tsuji-san's accumulation of accolades have led to the prestigious Prime Minister’s Award for agriculture in 2017, and most recently the Minister of Agriculture's Award for tencha at the 2022 National Tea Competition, the top award for the leaves that are used for matcha. Most recently, his Asahi cultivar won the top Minister's Award at the 2022 National Tea Competition in the Tencha category (this batch was harvested at a similar time as the winning competition batch, but submitted to regional tea competitions).

Size: 20g / 0.7 oz

Harvest: Hand-picked in Spring / (May) 2023 

Grinding: Sept 2023

Cultivation: Cultivated using centuries-old traditional methods including shading under a canopy of reeds and straw adjusted according to the sunlight and increasing until 95% of sunlight is cut. Tsuji-san also conducts soil analysis monthly and analysis of amino acid content in the leaf (which forms the umami flavor) annually to craft the best leaf year after year.

Processing: Steamed and dried in a traditional Tencha oven. Carefully refined — removing stems, veins — before stone mill grinding by hand.

Region: Uji, Kyoto