Seikoen Tea Factory: Snow-Aged Yukimuro Genmaicha with Matcha 雪室こめ茶 Seikoen

The Joetsu region of Niigata prefecture is a region which receives one of the most heavy snowfall areas in Japan. This tea was processed in this type of climate through a process called snow-aging (description below). In this rich and toasty flavoured tea, a generous amount of matcha is blended with the delicious Koshi-hikari (rice cultivar) brown rice from Niigata and green tea from Shizuoka prefecture that has been aged in Seikoen’s natural snow-cooled warehoused called a “Yukimuro” to increase its flavor. A delicious genmaicha that is unique to the snowy wonderlands of Niigata. The moment the tea enters your mouth, the umami and elegant aroma of the extracted material will spread… 

About Snow-aging

While the mechanism needs more research, something about this unique aging process (perhaps due to the temperature which hovers just below zero in a state in which water is neither freezing nor liquid) causes the tea to increase multiple chemical components that make up the tea leaf’s umami flavor.

Specifically, an increase was measured from 632 mg/100g to 810.7 mg/100g of 15 amino acids according to their tests

Product Info

• Ingredients: Green tea, toasted rice, matcha
• Net weight: 20g (yunomi package), 100 grams (original)
• Harvest: Spring
• Region: Leaves from Shizuoka prefecture. Rice from Niigata prefecture. Tea was aged by Seikoen Tea Factory in Niigata, Japan

Vendor Info

• Name: Seikoen Tea Factory
• Type: Tea Finishing Factory based in Northern Japan
• President: Yoshiyuki Matsuki
• Location: Ichinomiya 4-1-6 Itoigawa, Niigata 941-0056, Japan