This is the Kirin Namacha Rich. It featured kabusecha ground with a ceramic mill to achieve a fine, uniform grind, and contained 10 times more tea leaves than the regular Namacha. Kabusecha is usually a first-flush tea shaded for a shorter time than gyokuro.
Gently shaken to evenly distribute the tea leaves, the beverage was an opaque green-yellow hue with a sweet and fresh aroma of green tea. When consumed chilled, the tea had a slightly viscous mouthfeel from the fine tea grind, allowing the tea to coat and linger on the palate. The matcha flavour was prominent, delivering a fresh and rich yet naturally sweet experience from the beginning of each sip to the lingering finish. Throughout the body, the sweetness evolved into increasingly rich and fragrant grassy notes, peaking in the finish with minimal bitterness and a lingering aroma of the tea leaves, accompanied by a subtle hint of astringency.
As a fan of the regular Namacha, this ‘rich’ version was an impressive upgrade, living up to its promise of a more luxurious and deep kabusecha flavour with a profound sweetness and without the savoury qualities in a gyokuro, making it a product worth repurchasing.
This Kirin Namacha Rich contained 400 mL. It was produced in Japan and purchased in Sydney, Australia in 2023.