A cup of deep emerald green, unlike any other loose leaf green tea: Sencha Matcha Émeraude is a Japanese composition by Mariage Frères that combines the whole, beautiful leaves of an aromatic sencha with the intense, assertive flavours of matcha.

Sencha is a green tea steamed just after picking, which fixes its colour and its fresh vegetal character; matcha is a green tea reduced to a fine powder, which is mixed into the water rather than simply infused in it. Laid over the leaves, it passes into the cup and gives it both its colour and its texture.

The house speaks of a rich palette of soft, enveloping notes, and the cup proves it right. Umami dominates, deep and velvety; the grassy freshness of the sencha keeps the whole lively; roundness, aroma, sweetness and character intertwine, in the house’s words, like a rhythmic and balanced dance. The finish, vegetal and gentle, lasts a long time.

It is drunk during the day, in the morning or at lunch, plain, with Japanese cuisine, fish, rice or vegetables, or alone in the afternoon with a lightly sweetened biscuit. It suits those who love matcha but prefer the simplicity of a teapot.

It comes in a 100 g black metal tin, airtight and with a lid, presented in its gift box, and in a box of 30 traditional round cotton muslin sachets, net weight 75 g. Allow 2.5 g of tea, or one muslin sachet, per 200 ml of water at 80 °C, and three minutes of steeping; hotter water would bring out the bitterness. Keep the tin or box tightly closed, away from light and air.