Description
Description | 詳細
As Chiran Nōen’s finest sencha from the first harvest of the year in mid-April 2022, these early spring leaves brew a refreshing green tea with a distinctly full-bodied, but never heavy, sensation of umami.
The tea leaves are carefully composed of a total of five cultivars – Asanoka, Asatsuyu, Saemidori, Yutakamidori and Yabukita – and they greet us in their dry state with sweet scents reminiscent of tropical fruit. After the first infusion, characteristic ocean-like notes unfold on the palate, reminding us of roasted nori seaweed and freshly filleted fish. The tea is pleasantly fluid and viscous in its mouthfeel, bearing witness to the early harvest time of the leaves. A mild, but refreshing vegetal aftertaste gradually unfolds in time with a body sensation that can be experienced as slightly cooling.
All cultivars have been grown using Chiran Nōen’s own in-house fermented organic fertilizer and they were shaded between seven and ten days prior to harvest. While the Yabukita leaves are medium-steamed (chūmushi), the remaining cultivars have undergone a slightly longer steaming process (fukamushi), as is often the case for teas produced within the Chiran region. By combining moderate shading techniques and partial fukamushisteaming with the four classic Kagoshima cultivars Asanoka, Asatsuyu, Saemidori and Yutakamidori, Chiran Sencha can be seen in several ways as an epitome of the region’s style and terroir: an umami-rich and vibrantly verdant tea that can feel almost like taking a small sip of spring itself.
Tea trees | 茶樹
Cultivars: Asanoka, Asatsuyu, Saemidori, Yabukita, Yutakamidori
Age: 15-40 years
Altitude: 150-200 masl
Shade: covered 7-10 days prior to harvest
Fertiliser: homemade, fermented organic fertiliser made of by-products from the local fishing and agriculture industries
Cultivation method: certified organic (read more about organic and natural farming here)
Harvest: April 14th-21st 2022
Production method | 製茶方法
Steaming: medium (chūmushi) for Yabukita; deep (fukamushi) for remaining cultivars
Hi-ire: medium (chūbi)
Producer | 生産者
Chiran Nōen 知覧農園 under the leadership of the Nuriki 塗木 sisters
Origin | 産地
Chiran in Kagoshima, Japan
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