Tasting 🍵🌊

This Samidori matcha from Furukawa-san in Uji is incredibly unique. Its intense flavour is perfectly balanced yet deep and complex, with an umami flavour and marine flavours dancing together on the palate.

The green colour is vibrant and sunny, the aroma is heavenly, like smooth flowers in the air. It is a truly unique and special matcha that must be experienced to be fully appreciated.

To prepare a conventional usucha matcha tea, use 1 to 2 grams of powder for 80mL of hot water.

Try a "thick" koicha preparation to experience the full aroma of this matcha: add 2 to 3 grams of matcha powder to 30mL of hot water. Or try a "matchaspresso" preparation with 1g of matcha and just enough water to fill an espresso cup.

History

In this video, I present the story of Furukawa-san: our partner farmer who produces competition-grade matcha on a plot of land that he has transitioned to organic farming.

Click on the play button below to launch the presentation video:

Furukawa-san is known in Uji for his garden of shaded tea plants along the Ujigawa River. He is solely dedicated to producing tencha of the highest possible quality, as he enters his matcha in national competitions every year.

During these formal competitions, matcha teas are evaluated and awarded prizes based on several criteria: their vibrant colour, subtle aroma, and delicious umami taste.

Since our first meetings, I have dreamed of offering her "single origin - single cultivar" matcha to our community.

Despite the quality and history of its production, the missing element to satisfy my criteria was that the matcha be certified organic or follow a natural production method. That is, without the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers.

And that day has arrived! Since 2018, Furukawa-san has been converting one of his plots to organic farming standards, and the 2020 vintage was Furukawa-san's first experimental edition of "matcha in conversion."

After the minimum three-year waiting period between the time the plot was converted and the time organic certification could be issued, Furukawa-san achieved success in obtaining Japanese JAS certification. This is equivalent to European organic certification, and we were able to import this bundle with the "European organic" logo.

As this is still an experimental, small-scale project, quantities are limited for this rare and special matcha, which I recommend for someone who already enjoys matcha tea.

This bundle of matcha from Furukawa-san is the result of generations of expertise applied to pushing the quality of matcha to the highest level and now transitioning to organic - it's just exceptional.

This is a 100% Samidori cultivar matcha. It is not a blend like our organic premium matcha, or a native Zairai cultivar like Tokuya-san's matcha. Here, we taste a single cultivar from identical plants propagated on a small scale on one of Furukawa-san's plots.

I invite you to read the rest of this page to learn more about Furukawa-san's story, his transition to JAS certification, his production methods, harvesting, and matcha processing.

Let's view it more closely...

🍃 Sorting the leaves by hand

Since discovering the world of matcha in 2013, I believe it is one of the most surreal scenes I have ever witnessed.

Click on the play button below to start the video (2 min 20 sec):

Furukawa-san opened the door to his garage, and this is what I discovered now: dozens of people sorting tencha leaves one by one, selecting only the most beautiful ones.

I invite you to watch this video, which will show you in detail the process and all the criteria for selecting the leaves.

My meeting with Furukawa-San, his choice of ecological transition

I was warmly welcomed by this enthusiastic farmer who showed me his plantations, his manufacturing process, and even let me participate in the harvest.

I was able to learn more about his family (all farmers before him) and his production techniques. I was also very interested in his decision to transition to organic farming, as this is often a big challenge for producers.

For Furukawa-san, one of the motivations for this transition is to rediscover the original taste of matcha, the taste that his ancestors enjoyed. The challenge for him is above all to stop using synthetic products and switch to organic farming and production processes.

Harvesting tea leaves

In this video, I take part in harvesting the shaded tea plants. It's May, and during this harvest period, the tea fields are bustling with activity.

Click on the play button below to start the video (2 min 30 sec):

The leaves must be harvested while they are still tender, fresh, and at the right stage of ripeness. This means that all the tea plants must be harvested at the same time! It is a very social occasion, and many retired women are usually involved in the harvest. 

To pick tea leaves correctly, you have to pull on the stems that bear the new leaves. They are easy to distinguish from older leaves because they are tender and light green.

The Samidori cultivar is unique in that it is easy to pick by hand (simply pull gently on the stems to detach them) and is very fragrant.

The transformation of leaves into tencha

In this video, Furukawa-san guides us through all the stages of processing, from the fresh leaf to the final product, tencha. 

Click on the play button to start the video (6 min):

Here are all the steps involved in making tencha :

• Steaming: the leaves are steamed to stop oxidation.
• preliminary drying: hot air dries the leaves
• Drying: the leaves circulate in an oven heated to 100°C.
• separation of leaves and stems

The final step will be to grind the tencha to obtain a fine powder, matcha.

Furukawa-san's field after harvest

Here I discuss the techniques and methods developed by Furukawa-San to prepare for future harvests.

Click on the play button below to start the video (2 min 30 sec):

I mainly focus on his method for naturally fertilizing the soil. This producer uses traditional rice straw to shade the tea plants before harvesting. This step is essential in the production of matcha tea, because if the tea leaves are exposed to too much sunlight, they thicken and have a more bitter taste.

After harvesting, he drops the straw on the ground, where it will serve as natural fertilizer for the tea plants.

Using straw instead of the usual black covers is quite costly, but it is said that rice straw influences the flavour of the tea, giving it an even more delicious flavour.

Small-scale production

The Furukawa Samidori 2023 matcha was the first bundle from the tea plot that Furukawa-san has been converting to organic farming since 2018.

I am very happy to support a producer who is launching into organic farming, especially someone like Furukawa-san, who is committed to competitive quality on a small scale. 

Enjoy the tasting! 🍵