We’re delighted to share that our Kyoto Samidori Unsweetened Matcha has been awarded a 3-Star Great Taste Award — the highest possible rating.
For us, the award is much more than a badge. It is recognition of the quality of the tea itself, and of the knowledge, patience and care that goes into producing matcha in Wazuka, Kyoto.
What is the Great Taste Award?
The Great Taste Awards are among the most respected food and drink awards in the UK. Products are judged through blind tastings, with entries assessed by panels of experts from across the food and drink industry.
The awards are given across three levels. A 1-Star award recognises a product that is outstanding, while 2 Stars are awarded to products that judges consider above and beyond expectations. The highest accolade, 3 Stars, is reserved for products that judges consider exceptional.
Our Kyoto Samidori Unsweetened Matcha has received this highest recognition.
A single-origin matcha from Wazuka, Kyoto
Our Kyoto Samidori Matcha comes from Wazuka, a beautiful rural town in Kyoto Prefecture and an important part of the renowned Uji tea region.
Tea has been cultivated here for centuries, and local producers continue to combine generations of expertise with meticulous care. The leaves are then slowly stone-milled at just 30 grams per hour, creating an exceptionally fine powder while preserving matcha's vibrant colour and rich aroma.
The result is a matcha with remarkable depth of flavour, a smooth texture and a true connection to the place where it is grown.
Or, if you want an even more sales-focused ending:
The result is a matcha with exceptional smoothness, vibrant colour and rich umami, reflecting the craftsmanship behind every step of its production.
The Samidori cultivar
The tea used to make this matcha comes from the Samidori cultivar, a rare Uji varieties associated with high-quality tea production in Kyoto.
Samidori is particularly prized for its beautiful, vivid green colour and naturally smooth character. Compared with some more intensely flavoured matchas, it is known for its gentle sweetness, low bitterness and clean finish.
This makes it a particularly versatile matcha. It has enough depth and character to be enjoyed on its own, while its smoothness also makes it an excellent choice for a matcha latte.
From tea leaf to matcha
Producing high-quality matcha is a careful process, and shading the tea plants before harvest is one of its defining stages. By reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the leaves, shading alters the plant’s natural balance of compounds: chlorophyll levels increase, helping to create matcha’s vivid green colour, while the production and retention of amino acids such as L-theanine contribute to its characteristic sweetness and umami. At the same time, shading can reduce the accumulation of certain catechins associated with bitterness and astringency, helping to create the smooth, rounded flavour prized in high-quality matcha.
After harvesting, the leaves are carefully processed before being slowly milled into an exceptionally fine powder using traditional stone mills at a precise rate of just 30 grams per hour. This slow, meticulous process generates virtually no heat, helping to preserve the matcha's vibrant natural colour and rich, authentic aroma while creating the silky-smooth texture that defines high-quality matcha. The result is matcha: the whole tea leaf transformed into a vivid green powder that can be whisked directly into water.
Because you consume the tea leaf itself, the quality of the original leaves matters enormously. The flavour, colour, texture and finish all begin with the tea plant and the care taken in its cultivation.
How to enjoy Kyoto Samidori Matcha
There is no single correct way to enjoy matcha.
For a traditional preparation, whisk it with hot water until smooth and frothy. If you enjoy a more concentrated flavour and texture, it can also be prepared as koicha, or thick tea.
Its naturally smooth, gently sweet character also makes it a wonderful matcha to enjoy straight, or as a velvety matcha latte.
However you choose to prepare it, we recommend taking a moment to appreciate the flavour of the tea itself. With a matcha of this quality, simplicity is often the best approach.
Experience our 3-Star Great Taste Award-winning matcha
We’re proud to share this exceptional tea with you. Discover the flavour, colour and smooth texture that earned our Kyoto Samidori Unsweetened Matcha the highest possible Great Taste Award.
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