Usuchatoh - Beloved drink in Shizuoka Prefecture

As I told before in this blog, Shizuoka Prefecture is known for its tea cultivation. Many local people drink green tea five times a day or more. In summer, cold barley tea may be preferred sometimes as in other regions in Japan, but we have also unique summer drink. It is called Usuchatoh (ウス茶糖) and produced by a tea shop Chikumeido (竹茗堂). Two yeas ago, it was introduced in a local TV show and was called “soul drink” by one of the local people.

Chikumeido is an old-established shop founded in the downtown of the present Shizuoka City, the capital of Shizuoka Prefecture, in 1781. Usuchatoh was invented in 1933 by the seventh-generation owner. It is powdered green tea with sugar and cinnamon added. I’ve heard there is a similar product called “Green Tea” made by other company, but the taste seems to be different. Anyway, the names Chikumeido and Usuchatoh are so famous in Hamamatsu that I had thought for a long time that it was drunk all over Japan. In fact, it is a local drink and difficult to get outside Shizuoka Prefecture.

Chikumeido has three shops in Hamamatsu: in the basement of Entetsu Department Store, the first floor of AEON Hamamatsu Ichino and AEON Hamamatsu Nishi. I got this pack of Usuchatoh in Entetsu Department Store. It contained five stick-type packs. There is also a bag containing 300g of Usuchatoh sold in the shop.

The powder looked like this.

As instructed on the backside of the pack, I added cold water of 140 cc and stirred well. It became dark green tea.

I expected it would be very sweet because of my memory of childhood. But it was not so sweet as before. It was moderately sweet and surely had the refreshing flavor of green tea but felt rather weak.
I wasn’t satisfied and immediately made another cup of tea, with about soymilk of 125 cc instead of water of 140 cc.

It tasted much better than the previous tea. In fact, there were some people on the Internet who said that they preferred making it with milk. Even with soymilk, it tasted richer, and I really thought it was good. According to the staff on the shop, Usuchatoh can be added to a shaved ice dessert. I don’t have an ice shaver at home, but Usuchatoh + soymilk would add a delicious flavor to the dessert.

At the cashier, he gave me a little present.

It’s a green tea candy. As soon as I put it in my mouth, I felt the distinctive flavor of tea that was very similar to Usuchatoh. It became increasingly stronger and bitter as I ate the candy. It’s surprising that a candy can be so alike to real tea.

If you search with the shop name “竹茗堂” on Amazon Japan, you can find their products including Usuchatoh, regardless the language you select. It seemed impossible to search with “Chikumeido” or “Usuchatoh” as no result appeared.