Origin Makurazaki, Kagoshima, Japan
Organic Certification(s) JAS
Harvest Date Late May 2013
Harvest Period 100% Ichibancha (First Harvest)
Cultivar(s) 100% Hatsumomiji
A premium quality 100% handpicked first flush organic japanese black tea cultivated by a very long established, award winning, organic black tea grower in the famed black tea production area known as Makurazaki which is in Kagoshima prefecture! Made from the tea bush variety known as “Hatsumomiji” which was bred in Japan for black tea. An organic black tea with a unique sweet taste & aroma, soft rich mouthfeel, and a lovely clean aftertaste. JAS certified LIMITED organic Japanese black tea and one not to miss!
100% Handpicked Tea Leaves…
(Handpicked = Tezumi in Japanese) Although most tea in Japan is harvested by machines, all tea leaves for this organic black tea have been picked by hand with each tea leaf being checked for quality by eye and plucked with the picker’s fingertips. The annual yield of the plantation is therefore quite low meaning that this black tea is very limited, but is ultimately superior in quality.
Makurazaki Japanese Black Tea…
If you know your time-line on Japanese black tea, you’ll know that Makurazaki in Kagoshima prefecture was one of the main cultivation regions of high quality black tea in Japan in the 1960s. However, in 1971 restrictions on black tea imports were lifted in Japan which led to a mass of cheap low quality import black tea flooding the Japanese black tea market. Already sensing what was going to happen, most black tea farmers in Japan at that time swiftly switched over to producing green tea leaving the Japanese domestic black tea market to slowly dwindle away. Thankfully, for a few Japanese black tea farmers in Makurazaki, that didn’t stop their passion and desire to cultivate black tea because they knew they were making had a very special taste (The multiple award winning Hime Fuki Japanese black tea is evidence of that). Therefore, still today there are black tea farmers, including some of the older original farmers, that are still cultivating and innovating the production of high quality organic black tea in the region! It is due to their efforts that it remains possible to enjoy the high quality taste of organic Makurazaki black tea!