01
Dry Leaf Appearance
Needle-like form, twist, straightness, sheen, and color depth are examined before brewing.
Evaluation method
Evaluation Method
How mirume judges tea before it reaches a restaurant or hotel.
Most tea is selected by name, origin, reputation, or price. mirume evaluates every tea through a structured process: appearance, aroma, internal quality, fault detection, and optimal brewing.
Why mirume Can Speak with Precision
Farmers speak with farmers. Tea merchants speak with tea merchants. Soma Matsumoto speaks across all of these worlds. Every day.
His father is a tea farmer and an Emperor's Cup-winning tea master, which means this conversation does not happen once a year. It happens daily.
Behind the counter at mirume, Soma also speaks with complete beginners, international visitors, tea enthusiasts, merchants, and professionals. Explaining the same tea to thousands of beginners forces a level of precision that peer-to-peer expertise does not always require.
Japanese green tea is different. It is defined by taste: umami, sweetness, astringency, texture, and finish.
The Premise
Quality is not judged in isolation. It is evaluated in relation to value, style, and context.
Many tea suppliers select teas based on reputation, long-standing relationships, or price. At mirume, every tea is evaluated through the same structured process, regardless of origin, producer, or category.
All evaluation is carried out in relation to price. A tea showing stale aroma or deterioration is rejected regardless of cost. At the same time, a tea may be outstanding within a mid-range price category while the same profile at a premium price level would be expected to meet a higher standard.
Reference note
The criteria described here use light-steamed sencha as the reference standard. Evaluation methods are adjusted according to processing style. Deep-steamed teas naturally produce finer, more fragmented leaves and often display more yellow tones. Pan-fired teas typically develop a curved shape rather than the straight needle form expected in steamed sencha.
Five Evaluation Steps
02
Dry Leaf Aroma
The dry leaves are checked for stale aroma, withering-like notes, unfamiliar odors, and other defects.
03
Internal Quality
Aroma, liquor color, clarity, sweetness, umami, astringency, bitterness, and balance are evaluated after infusion.
04
Boiling Water
Boiling water reveals defects that lower temperatures may conceal. This method shows the tea at its lowest point.
05
Optimal Brew
After fault detection, mirume identifies the brewing parameters that best express the character of each tea.
Why Boiling Water
Boiling water reveals the tea at its lowest point.
The right temperature reveals its highest potential.
mirume evaluates both.
Boiling water extracts all of a tea's components at once, including defects that lower temperatures may conceal. This does not result in a pleasant cup. That is not the purpose. If significant faults appear under boiling-water extraction, the tea is rejected regardless of how well it performs at optimal brewing temperatures.
The starting point for optimal brewing is 70°C for 1 minute. From there, adjustments are made as needed according to the character of the tea.
The only way to continue working with exceptional farmers is to remain worthy of their trust.
