Makinohara Green Tea Treats

Hello everyone! It’s almost the last day of January 2024 and I’m back with another food review after a long hiatus!

Japan is famous for many sights, scents and flavours but the top 3 food things which I always associate with the beautiful country is sushi, beef and green tea. Green tea is a staple in our home and we have it very often both iced and hot, depending on the season. Plus they also make a nice souvenir for ourselves or even to gift someone who’s not from the region or country. I personally love green tea and most products made from this ingredient. 

Today’s green tea treats are from Makinohara, a city in western Shizuoka Prefecture.

A quick search tells me that Shizuoka Prefecture produces almost half of Japan’s green tea with Makinohara city accounting for 20% of all of Japan’s production. The tea leaves produced in this area are also said to have a good balance of umami, aroma and astringency. They are steamed for hours which helps it develop its bright colour and mild flavour.

I served the Makinohara tea during our Japanese New Year meals and also to our guests and it was the perfect complement. Everyone commented that this was really good, high quality green tea. I found the tea to be one of the less bitter and not as astringent as some I’ve tasted, and I really enjoyed it. I was able to reuse the tea bag for 3 large mugs and it still tasted as good as the first. 

It also paired very nicely with the inclided green tea leaf pies which also had a mild and sweet taste but were unfortunately gobbled down by my kids before I even had a chance to take pictures.

But I managed to save the best for last! The one item which I had been most excited to try out was this Matcha Mitsu (syrup). Of course I could’ve had it the typical Japanese way- on little mochi balls and with some red bean paste (as pictured on the packaging) but let me share the not so conventional ways I ate this. 

I put it on a variety of things and my favourite is squeezing a dollop into warm milk and voila, instant sweet, green tea milk. It is not going to be a replacement for the matcha enthusiasts but for someone like me who enjoys flavoured milk it was sweet and mild, so comforting and perfect for winter, no whisking involved. 

My kids who usually turn their noses at the matcha (powder) lattes I make at home actually took a sip of this and asked for more. I also put it on pancakes, vanilla ice cream, and also toasted some mochi and squeezed some (okay a lot) of the syrup on it. 

Products in this review were kindly gifted by Grinpia tea factory. If you’d like to peruse what other treats they have to offer from Makinohara, do check out their well stocked webstore.

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