Kunitaro's Sushi Restaurant Matcha from Shizuoka

    I found this one in the green tea section on a recent trip to the Welcia drug store near my home. While I've been trying a lot of green tea in tea bags and loose leaf varieties, matcha powder forms of Shizuoka green tea have not been as readily available in my area, so I was a little excited to try something a little different. This sushi restaurant style powdered green tea from the Kunitaro company is made from tea grown in Kikugawa, Shizuoka and was made to be enjoyed by the cup. Serving suggestions on the back label instruct those using large, sushi-restaurant style 200 milliliter cups to also use two small spoons of powdered tea to make their drink.

This is the first time I have seen matcha marketed with sushi on the label.  Serving suggestion maybe?

    As I happened to already have a sushi restaurant style cup of that variety that I bought at a 100 yen shop before I could recognize the kanji on it, I chose this one for today's tasting adventure.

    The two heaping little spoonfuls of powder dissolved quickly in hot water, though the tea remained too hot to drink for a few minutes, even as delightful bubbles formed on the surface of the beverage. When it finally came around, my first taste was so pleasant. Initially a soft and watery quality seems to suggest that what would follow couldn't be too promising, but then the umami crested over the subtler flavor, leaving me wondering for a moment if I might have instead been drinking a delightful fish broth.

    I don't really like fish, but if I knew of a fish soup that held this quality and kind of almost-fishy flavor in it, I would eat it frequently. Being so reminiscent of fish is probably part of the reason why this specific product seems geared toward sushi restaurants in particular. I am sure this works very well with a plate of fatty tuna or salmon.

    In addition to having a strong umami presence, the drink seems more opaque than usual, owing to the powder dissolving well into the hot water. This tea had not been terribly expensive, though I forget exactly how much I paid for the fifty gram package I bought. Despite this, I find this product to be of quite a high quality. I look forward to sending some of this back to my mother when such a thing is once again possible.

This post is supported by Shizuoka Green Tea Guide, one of City-Cost's Supporters helping City-Cost bloggers to enjoy life in Japan and engage in new experiences.