Description
Description | 詳細
Tsukigase Kenkō Chaen is one of few contemporary Japanese tea farmers and producers who work actively with intentional aging of their green leaf teas. Tsukigase Sencha-hōji – a rather unorthodox genre of roasted (hōji) Sencha coined by Tsukigase Kenkō Chaen themselves – is one of the most striking examples of their vintage production.
The tea leaves were harvested during the early spring harvest in May 2017 from 25-50 year old Yabukita tea trees grown in a single naturally farmed tea garden nestled in the mountains surrounding the Tsukigase valley. Immediately after harvest, the tea leaves were allowed to wither lightly – a processing step known in Japan as 萎凋香 ichōka which at Tsukigase Kenkō Chaen gently takes place in the shade of trees from the nearby forest. The tea leaves have then been made into Sencha and aged until autumn 2022, when the tea was completed with a light roast.
The ichōka step combined with the extended maturation period and light degree of roasting bestow Tsukigase Sencha-hōji with a unique semi-oxidized profile with certain Oolong associations. A deep aroma – almost as if it were incense – diffuses expansively from the first infusion onwards with notes of ripe stone fruit, hay and kinako. The aromatic sensations are similarly reflected in the cup complemented by a pronounced sense of warmth from the final roasting process. Present on the palate, too, is a moderate sense of tannins, reminding us of the tea’s non-shaded Sencha origin while gradually transforming into a naturally sweet aftertaste.
The body sensation is warming in the stomach and comfortably calming, and the tea leaves offer a minimum of 4-5 good brews at gradually higher temperatures.
Tea trees | 茶樹
Cultivar: Yabukita
Age: 25-50 years
Elevation: 250 masl
Shade: none
Fertilisation: none
Cultivation method: natural farming and certified organic (read more about organic and natural farming here)
Harvest: May 2017
Production method | 製茶方法
Steaming: medium (futsūmushi)
Withering: approx. 12 hours in the shade of trees
Roasting: lightly roasted
Producer | 生産者
Tsukigase Kenkō Chaen 月ヶ瀬健康茶園 under the direction of Fumiaki Iwata 岩田文明
Origin | 産地
Tsukigase in Nara, Japan
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