After Sayama-kaori cultivar from Tatsukawa in Tenryû (Shizuoka pref.), here is a Yamakai made by the same producer. The attentive reader knows how much I appreciate this varietal from the series # 7000, cultivars developed during the 60’s from Yabukita… Read More ›
Among the novelties of 2018, I have just added to the my Thés du Japon selection two Uji teas made from the Uji-midori cultivar. Uji-midori is, as its name suggests, a tea plant variety originally from Kyoto Prefecture where it… Read More ›
While the 2018 vintages of Japanese teas are arriving progressivly on Thés du Japon, here is a completely new tea, I never presented before. It is a sencha from Tenryû, one of the famous Shizuoka mountain tea producing areas with… Read More ›
I had already presented a few months ago a tamaryokucha from Sonogi (pref. Nagasaki) by Mr. Matsuo. It was then the cultivar Samidori (not Saemidori), a tea with a strong final hi-ire drying, very well mastered, typical of this producer’s… Read More ›
As the 2018 season kicks off, here is the perfect opportunity to remember that gyokuro and matcha are usually not sold as shincha, especially in Uji. The teas of the current year thus begin to be sold or used in… Read More ›
While I just release on Thés du Japon the first 2018 shincha, here is the last, and also the simplest, of the series of regional bancha (see this article about these teas). The mimasaka bancha, as its name suggests, comes… Read More ›
Iri-bancha and kyô-bancha refer to the same tea, a bancha from kyôto prefecture, a very simple and popular tea, apparently originated from Uji-Tawara. This is the third bancha of my traditional regional bancha series. It is far less particular than… Read More ›
This is the second tea in my series of traditional regional bancha. After the goishi-cha, tea fermented twice, with a very particular sour flavor, I present the batabata-cha, another fermented tea (dark tea), from Toyama. It is only a single… Read More ›
I have just launch on Thés du Japon a series of four very different traditional regional bancha (about these rare regional teas, please see this article). I will start here with the most puzzling of the four, the goishi-cha 碁石茶…. Read More ›
Bancha is most often understood as a term for late-harvest Japanese tea, then coarsely made in the same way as a sencha. But “bancha” is also and above all a myriad of traditional regional teas, with very various manufacturing methods,… Read More ›
Producing area of tea, essentially steamed tamaryokucha, Higashi-Sonogi, in the Nagasaki prefecture, often remains in the shadow of its very close neighbor Ureshino (Saga prefecture) also primarily producer of tamaryokucha. If the “Sonogi tea” is less known than that of… Read More ›
Here in my selection is a new tea from Kawane by the Tsuchiya’s. The Tsuchiya estate, perched at an altitude of 600 meters, which is rarer in Kawane than in Hon.yama or Tenryû, is known for the excellence of its… Read More ›
The city of Yame in Fukuoka Prefecture (Kyushu) is famous for its tea production. The production extends over a large part of the territory of the city, including mountainous areas, the best known are the village of Hoshino, the town… Read More ›
For the details of Mr. Tarui’s teas from Nearai (Shizuoka, Hamamatsu City), I invite you to read this article about its phenomenal Inzatsu 131. In short, the peculiarity of these fukamushi cha comes from their method of manufacture, on an… Read More ›
In Morokozawa, in the Shizuoka mountain tea production area called Hon.yama, Satô Hiromitsu is known for its Kogane-midori cultivar with its golden color leaves. It is also one of the few Japanese producers making really excellent wulong tea. For these… Read More ›
