NARA TSUKIGASE SENCHA
Category: Green Tea
Origin: JAPAN, Nara Prefecture, Tsukigase Village
Cultivar: Yamato Midori
Quantity: 30g per pack
Harvest: Spring (May)
Other: Organic farming
Location:
Nara was the first Capital of Japan built during the Nara Period (710-794). It is also the place where tea was allegedly brought to Japan from China in the year 806 by the Buddhist monk Kukai, also known as Kobo Daishi. He gave the seeds to his brother Kenne who planted them in the Butsuryu-ji temple (nowadays called Uda city).
The earliest record of tea drinking in Japan can be found in the Shoku Nihon Kouki (続日本後紀), which is a history text completed in 869. Eichu (another monk who travelled to China with Kukai) offered tea to Emperor Saga in 815, who subsequently decided to encourage the drinking and cultivation of tea in Japan at the beginning of the Heian period. Tea is said to have been cultivated in some monasteries during that period but it really developed from 1200 in Kyoto when another famous monk called Eissai, founder of the first Zen temple in Japan brought tea seeds from China.
The Yamato Plateau is a mountainous area in the northeast side of the Nara Prefecture. It is a very favourable area for growing high quality tea because of short daylight hours and the high temperature difference between day and night. Being really developed from the Meiji Period (1868), Tsukigase is one of the most reputable localities known for producing Yamato Tea.
Description:
Our selected Tsukigase Sencha is made from the Yamato Midori (Green Yamato) cultivar which is the only one developed in Nara. It is characterized by a dark green color, a high aroma and is sometimes called a natural gyokuro. It generally contains more catechins than the Yabukita variety. It is not widely cultivated because of its slower growth (later harvest) and lower yields.
This particular tea plantation is made from seeds of the Yamato Midori cultivar, thus making it an inimitable tea garden. This cultivation is pesticide and fertilizer free and has one more particularity: the nature of its soil.
The geology of this particular place was volcanic and its soil provides natural nutrition to the trees, giving this tea a specific mineral aroma and taste.
Taste profile: It is different from classic sencha in the way that umami and grassy flavours are not present. This sencha can be described as light, clean, green, chalky with a slight astringency and no bitterness. Also excellent in cold brew.
Preparation:
Method 1 - classic:
4g (0.14oz) of leaves per serving
80ml of water at 80°C (176°F)
First brew: 60-90 seconds
Subsequent brews: 20 seconds
Method 2 - farmer:
4g (0.14oz) of leaves per serving
80ml of water at 98°C (208°F)
Short brews of 5-10 seconds
Cold brew: 10g of leaves for 1L of cold water. Brew for 12-15 hours in the fridge at 5°C. Filter the liquor in another bottle and keep it in the fridge. You may re-brew the spent leaves a second time as you like.
