What umami actually means in tea
Umami is also known as the fifth taste, alongside sweet, sour, salty, and bitter was first identified by Japanese chemist Professor Kikunae Ikeda in 1908. Studying kombu seaweed, he isolated glutamic acid (glutamate) as the compound responsible for a deep, savoury, mouthcoating quality that didn't fit the existing four-taste framework. He named it umami, from the Japanese umai (delicious) and mi (taste).
In tea, umami is produced primarily through shade-growing. When tea plants are covered from sunlight for two to four weeks before harvest, photosynthesis slows. The plant stops converting L-theanine, an amino acid unique to tea, into catechins. Those amino acids remain in the leaf, concentrating into the sweet, savoury, mouthfilling quality that defines shade-grown teas. Less bitterness. More depth. A flavour profile that has no real equivalent in any other drink.
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Pure umami
The most savoury, mineral end of the collection. Gyokuro (jade dew) is the collection's most profound umami expression: shade-grown for weeks, brewed at unusually low temperatures to coax out sweetness and depth rather than bitterness. Japanese Sencha, steamed rather than pan-fired, carries a lighter marine and mineral quality — the characteristic vegetal, seaweed-edged character that distinguishes Japanese green teas from their Chinese counterparts.
Matcha
Matcha is made from shade-grown tencha leaves that are stone-ground into powder; because you consume the whole leaf rather than an infusion, the concentration of amino acids is higher than any steeped tea. Original matcha and Horai matcha carry the full umami character of the leaf in concentrated form: grassy, sweet, and deeply vegetal.
Flavoured matcha
Matcha can also act as a canvas for flavour. Brown Sugar, White Chocolate, Salted Milkshake, Yuzu, Blood Orange, and Peach take the vegetal depth of matcha as a base and layer complementary flavours through it. The umami character sits beneath the sweetness and fruit, adding body and complexity. The collection's most playful end and where T2's innovation truly shines.
How to brew umami teas
Temperature is more critical here than in almost any other collection. The amino acids responsible for umami dissolve at lower temperatures, while the bitter catechins extract more readily at higher ones. Getting the temperature right is the difference between a cup that's savoury and smooth and one that's sharp and flat.
Gyokuro demands the lowest temperature in the T2 range: 50–60°C for 2 minutes. Japanese Sencha and Sencha work best at 70–75°C for 1–2 minutes. Plain matcha should be whisked with water at 80°C using a bamboo chasen if possible; a small whisk or a milk frother works as a practical alternative.
FAQ:
What is Gyokuro and how does it differ from other green teas?
Gyokuro is a premium shade-grown Japanese green tea, typically covered for three to four weeks before harvest, longer than any other Japanese tea style. The name means jade dew, a reference to the pale green colour of the pale liquid it produces. Shade-growing concentrates L-theanine and amino acids in the leaf, creating an intensely sweet, savoury, marine character quite unlike standard sencha.
What is the difference between matcha and sencha?
Both are Japanese green teas, but they're produced and consumed very differently. Sencha uses whole tea leaves, steamed to prevent oxidation, dried, and steeped in hot water. Matcha uses shade-grown tencha leaves that are stone-ground into a fine powder; the whole leaf is consumed rather than steeped and discarded. Matcha therefore has a higher concentration of everything in the leaf, including L-theanine, caffeine, and the amino acids responsible for umami. Sencha has a lighter, more delicate flavour profile; matcha is richer, more intense, and more versatile as an ingredient.
Why is matcha so green?
The vivid green colour of matcha comes from chlorophyll, the pigment responsible for photosynthesis in plants. Shade-growing dramatically increases chlorophyll production in tea leaves, as the plant responds to reduced light by producing more of it. Because matcha is made from these shade-grown leaves, and because the whole leaf is ground into powder and consumed rather than steeped, the chlorophyll concentration and the colour intensity is significantly higher than in most teas.
What is L-theanine and what does it do?
L-theanine is an amino acid found almost exclusively in Camellia sinensis, the tea plant, and to a lesser extent in some mushrooms. It's the compound primarily responsible for the umami character in shade-grown teas. Beyond flavour, L-theanine is believed to slow the absorption of caffeine when they occur together in tea, which may contribute to the more gradual, sustained energy that many matcha drinkers describe, as opposed to the faster spike and drop associated with coffee. Matcha and Gyokuro have the highest L-theanine content of any teas in the T2 range.
