Tea tasting: La Kouju fermented tea (Yamanashi Shouten)

Kouju is a rare and unregistered cultivar that was born from zairai (native species) tea plants found in the upper reaches of the Warashina River in Honyama, one of Shizuoka's leading tea-producing areas. It is most known for its fruit aroma similar to muscat when it is oxidised. Founded in 1950, Yamanashi Shouten is a …

Tea tasting: Sunrouge Kamairicha (Moriuchi Tea Farm)

Getting reacquainted with the Sunrouge cultivar, which I first tasted during a trip to Shizuoka in 2018. Also bought a sencha made from this unique cultivar that year. This cultivar is a cross between Camellia Sinensis and Camellia Taliensis, which produced tea leaves with a reddish purple hue. It is rich in anthocyanins, the antioxidant …

Tea tasting: Japan Tea Action sencha sampler pack

Japan Tea Action project is implemented by Tokyo Tea Cooperative, an organisation comprising mostly tea retailers in Tokyo prefecture who are involved in tea promotion and education. This sampler pack came with a recent issue of SALON, the quarterly newsletter of the Nihoncha Instructor Association. It consisted of a selection of five teabags, featuring sencha …

Special Focus on Shizuoka: Tea production

As a tea lover, I find myself drawn to Shizuoka again and again. After all, it is the prefecture that contributes to some 40 per cent of Japan’s overall tea production. According to the 2019 tea production statistics released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries earlier this year, nationwide crude tea production last …