Mandokoro Hirabancha | Pesticide-free and artificial fertiliser-free | 2024

政所　平晩茶

The mountain village of Mandokoro in Shiga Prefecture is renowned for its centuries-old tea cultivation traditions, dating back to the Muromachi period. Today, Mandokoro is home to some of the oldest living tea trees in Japan.

The local bancha is known as hirabancha, a tea characterized by its large, mature leaves which are pressed into a uniquely flat (‘hira’) form during the steaming process. In our case, the leaves are harvested at the end of the spring harvest from the Mizunomori garden, nestled in a dense pine forest near the Oike River, just outside Mandokoro village.

The tea trees here are said to be more than 200 years old and are carefully tended to without any use of pesticides or artificial fertilizers. The result is a mild and calming tea with low caffeine content and a flavour profile which seems, in all of its natural simplicity, timeless.

flower water – cedar wood – the scent of soil after a light rain

kr. 95,00