This post is one for all ye matcha lovers in London.
Tsujiri – the 155 year-old premium tea brand from Kyoto – has finally arrived in town bringing its unique tea experience to offer a contemporary twist to traditional Japanese tea. Think houjicha lattes and the most incredible matcha-based sundaes…
Tsujiri’s legacy dates back to the 1860s – founder Riemon Tsuji revolutionised the tea industry at the time by inventing a new storage method to keep tea leaves fresh for longer, while also developing an exquisite blend of matcha tea called Gyokuro.
Nowadays, the company is most famous for its distinctive tea houses across Asia (in Japan, China, Singapore and Taiwan), which serve up matcha and other types of green tea in all shapes and sizes, from lattes and floats to soft serves, sundaes and shaved ice. Other key Japanese ingredients such as red bean and yuzu have made their way to the menus too!
Based in Soho’s Rupert Street, the first London outpost is a small, simple yet incredibly bright space with light green details that reflect the core green tea-based offering. The o-matcha cappuccino is a signature focus here, ceremoniously brewed in a tea bowl with a chasen, a traditional bamboo whisk…
Light and frothy, the result is a thing of beauty…
In case you’re unfamiliar with matcha powder – this is the most concentrated form of green tea that you can get as it’s made by grinding the entire leaf.
It’s estimated that one serving of matcha tea is nutritionally equivalent to around 10 cups of regularly brewed green tea and is packed with 137 times more antioxidants! Not to mention, that it has a whole host of other benefits from boosting metabolism and burning calories to lowering cholesterol and blood sugar.
Flavour-wise, I found that the matcha cappuccino at Tsujiri was a little too bittersweet, especially as I’d opted for soya milk. But my friend Mira – a more seasoned matcha drinker – found it much to her liking.
Silky smooth and with an earthy yet delicate sweetness to it, the matcha soft-serve on the other hand was pure heaven for an ice cream fiend like me…
The real highlight of course, was the Tsujiri matcha sundae – oodles of matcha soft serve layered with toasted brown rice puffs and red bean paste, with chestnuts and shiratama (a type of mochi) adding a final flourish…
It all came together in a stunning explosion of well-balanced flavours – sweet, chewy, crunchy and creamy all at once! And quite Instagrammable too, don’t you think?
In fact I’m predicting that it’s going to be one of the most Instagrammed desserts of the year, possibly even rivalling the Kinako French Toast a few streets down at Shackfuyu.
Of course that likely means that Tsujiru is only set to get busier and busier. Even though our visit was within just a couple of days of the opening, we found the place fizzing with energy, with a constant flow of Londoners stopping by for their fix.
I can see why.
It’s definitely a matcha made in heaven.
Tsujiri 47 Rupert Street, London W1D 7PD
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