Alongside Hon.yama (town of Shizuoka) and Tenryû (town of Hamamatsu), Kawane is one of the three major regions of Shizuoka mountain tea production. So far, I have presented sencha from the Tsuchiya’s (Mizukawa sector), from Mr. Masui (Aobe), and from… Read More ›
A few weeks ago I introduced here a very interesting black tea from Gokase by Mr. Miyazaki made from the Benihikari cultivar, and now (as promised) is a Benifûki first flush 2017 from the same producer. One just have to… Read More ›
Yame, in the Fukuoka prefecture is known as one of the three major producing regions of gyokuro (with Uji, and Asahina), and also for its fukamushi sencha, usually shaded. The Kuma family in the Jôyô-machi area does not deviate from… Read More ›
Is it necessary to remind that the two neighboring towns of Gokase and Takachiho, on the north-west of the Miyazaki prefectures are the two high places of production of Kama-iri cha? After two kama-iri cha from Takachiho, Mine-kaori and Yamanami… Read More ›
The vast majority of Japanese green teas are steamed, and kama-iri cha (pan-fired like Chinese teas to stop oxidation) are very rare. They are very interesting, and I have been trying for many years to promote them via Thés du… Read More ›
Shimizu (east of Shizuoka city) teas by Mr. Yamamoto are now classics of my selection (although this may not always be for good reasons). To the cultivars Yabukita, Kanaya-midori, Oku-yutaka, Sayama-kaori, was added a few years ago a Kôshun. Here… Read More ›
Dôsenbô is a mountain town in Minami-Yamashiro in the south of the Kyôto prefecture. It is traditionally a sencha production area, with real non-shaded sencha, a rare thing for an “Uji tea”. Located at 400-500 meters above sea level, the… Read More ›
Until now, the kama-iri cha from Ashikita (Kumamoto prefecture) by Mr. Kajihara were blends based mainly on Yabukita or on his “zairai-shu” (seed grown tea bushes), with Oku-yutaka in smaller proportions. This year, in even more limited quantities of course,… Read More ›
Here is one of the nicest tea of this season 2017, one of my favorites, and this is still an inzatsu type cultivar. This Fuji-kaori cultivar sencha from Fujieda is clearly far superior to its 2016 vintage. Mr. Yamamoto is… Read More ›
It really is very slowly that this 2017 season begins; After the delay of the beginning of the crops, things accelerate, but it is then the finishing work (sorting, final drying, etc) that does not follow. For the mountain teas,… Read More ›
After having presented a Kondô-wase, a Sôfû, here is the “father” of these cultivars, a Shizu-inzatsu 131 cultivar, the 2017 vintage of the incredible, unique, fukamushi-cha from Nearai in western Shizuoka, manufactured by Mr. Tarui. Once is not custom, I… Read More ›
To take over the Kondô-wase cultivar from Mariko, this year again is this one from Osaka. Again, necessary precision, this is Osaka 小坂, in Suruga district of Shizuoka, not Ôsaka 大阪 the big city of western Japan. The characters, as… Read More ›
After Kondô-wase cultivar sencha from Mariko (Shizuoka), which is already sold out, here is the second early shincha hasty on Thés du Japon. With the cultivar Sôfû, it is still a variety of “inzatsu” type. It is also a cross… Read More ›
For those who are still surprised to see me come out now with a 2016 gyokuro, please refer to, for example, this article about the Gokô gyokuro from Kyô-Tanabe, or this one about the Gokô matcha Gokô from Uji. Uji-tawara,… Read More ›
Given the time of year, some may find it strange that I speak of gyokuro and matcha. So, I repeat, the gyokuro and matcha from Uji are teas that are in principle never sold at the time of the spring… Read More ›
