[Shibuya Travelers Guide] Enjoying hospitality through matcha in the middle of Harajuku / Harajuku · THE MATCHA TOKYO

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About a 3-minute walk from Jingumae Station. “THE MATCHA TOKYO” is a matcha specialty store where you can enjoy a wide variety of drinks using organic matcha, which is carefully selected.

A scribble calligraphy letter that says “I like Matcha” as soon as I enter the store. In addition, there is a tea pot at the counter, and you can see the clerk gracefully brewing tea.

I asked Mr. Nagata, the representative director.
“I lived abroad for a long time, but when I came back to Japan about two years ago, I met a tea farmer with a good relationship. I started to look for farmers who are making delicious organically grown tea leaves.Shizuoka, Kyoto, Kyushu and other places where I'm doing organic cultivation are delicious with Sencha, but matcha It was a bit of astringency and I wasn't convinced, and as a result, I decided to make new tea leaves from scratch with Uji in Kyoto and farmers in Kagoshima. ''

I was thinking that "overseas people like matcha", but that is a story about flavors used in sweets, and few foreigners have actually drunk tea.

“I've been around a lot of overseas, but I think most people do n’t have matcha even if they ’ve been drinking sencha. So I ’d like to create a specialty store in Japan where they can enjoy delicious matcha casually. However, if you do something serious, such as turning on tea, the threshold for tea will suddenly increase, so I decided to open a store in Harajuku where I can take it easy and take it out. ''

Scoop hot water from the tea pot and into the bowl. The original blend “JAPAN PREMIUM”, which is a blend of 3 types of Kagoshima green tea, which is characterized by a strong flavor from the fragrant Kyoto Uji products.

Use green tea to make matcha. Although it is a storefront, its appearance is truly elegant.

MATCHA EXPERIENCE 1,000 yen (excluding tax)

It is refreshing and rich in taste. The scent of green tea coming out of the nose will make you feel relaxed. (It moves from this container to the cup.)

Matcha coffee latte 600 yen (excluding tax) / Matcha soft ice cream

“The next most popular matcha is the matcha coffee latte. I like coffee, and I suggested that it would be interesting to combine it with matcha. For those who drink straight, we want to reduce the astringency as much as possible, so we slowly grind it with a stone mortar so that it has a refreshing taste. “Matcha soft ice cream and sweets are mixed with bitterness to avoid losing other flavors.”

Matcha coffee latte has bitterness of coffee beans at the moment of drinking, and then the sweetness of matcha and milk follows. It's strange but delicious. The soft ice cream was slightly sweetened from the honey-filled corn and matched well with a firm matcha taste and a refreshing aftertaste.

The official website only supports English and Chinese, and most of the 20 staff can speak English. In addition, there are Taiwanese staff and Thai staff who can speak Chinese. During the interview, overseas people entered the store one after another and asked questions in English about menus, souvenirs and tea types.

“Overseas who drank Matcha for the first time said that they thought there was more bitterness and astringency. The catechins contained in tea leaves have the effect of preventing aging and suppressing blood pressure and blood sugar levels. It is said that the bactericidal action of tea leaves has the effect of preventing bad breath and tooth decay, and is attracting attention from the aspect of beauty and health, so if you are interested in that aspect as well, Actually, you can actually sell 20-30 teas per month.There is a request to sell tea utensils, so you can know matcha here and come home and enjoy at home I would be even more happy if you received it. ''

A stick type (1.5g x 3) that only melts in hot water using matcha tea that has a good balance between umami and astringency, and has a variety of varieties and varieties and okumidori from Uji Kyoto. First of all, various products are sold at the store.

THE MATCHA TOKYO Omotesando
* Address: 6-6-6, Jingumae, Shibuya-ku
〇 Sales: 11: 00-20: 00 (L.O19: 30)
〇 Official:https://www.the-matcha.tokyo
★ Opened in Shinjuku NEWMON from September

Rie Ohba

I love to eat deliciously and deliciously. If I hear the information of attractive shops, I will fly around Tokyo and go around. My longing is going abroad to eat delicious food.