Sayama-Tea: SINGLE ORIGIN TEA
Welcome to the world of rare Japanese tea: SINGLE ORIGIN
Until recently, Japanese tea was made by blending yabukita variety as the main part and several other varieties. You can see the high demand for yabukita by the fact that more than 70% of the tea plantation area is used for yabukita in Japan.
However, there are many other delicious varieties. In recent years, newly developed tea varieties especially have strong characteristics in taste and aroma
The tea varieties introduced below, “Sayamakaori”, “Okuharuka”, “Musashikaori”, “Fukumidori”, and “Yumewakaba”, are the representative varieties. All of them are cultivated mainly in Saitama-prefecture.
In the world of black tea, Single Origin Tea has drawn attention since early times. Many of you must have heard the names such as Assam, Dar jeeling, and Nilgiri.
These days, Single Origin has become popular in the world of whiskey and coffee as well. People are attracted by its pure flavor, rareness, distinctive characteristics, and the high traceability where they can trace who, when, and how the product was made. It is not too much to say that Single Origin meets the values of the age.
By tasting Single Origin Tea, that is, rare green tea, you can enjoy the broadness and deepness of Japanese tea.
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Musashi-kaori by Hiraoka-en
Hiraoka-en has a tea plantation of 3.0hectares in the historical farm area, Musashikaori is a variety developed by Saitama Tea Research Institute and it was registered in 2001. It is a hybrid of Yabukita and Sai27F1-73. A quarter of its genealogy comes from Taiwanese tea.
It has excellent aroma and is delicious.
Musashi-kaori is a tea with astringency and bitterness. It is rich in umami. The flavor is clear. Since the scent of roasting is a little strong, this tea goes well with rice crackers of soy sauce taste or salty taste.
◆Production data
Cultivation：Tea plantation200 meters away from
the manufacturing factory
Covering：4 days
Picking：May 10, 2021
Steaming：45 seconds (Medium Steaming)
Drying：30 minutes
Sayama-kaori by Ohnishi-en
Ohnishi-en is a tea farm with a 250-year tradition. The tea plantation is located on the Kaneko Plateau in Iruma City and the tea farm area covers about 3.0 ha.
The "Sayamakaori" variety was selected by the Saitama Prefecture Tea Research Institute in 1971 from a natural hybrid of the "Yabukita" variety. It is grown throughout Japan, and the production
amount is the fifth largest in the country.
Since it has a strong bitterness and astringency, the rich flavor is favored by Japanese tea lovers as "typical Japanese tea” However, young people today do not like bitterness and
astringency, so efforts are made to suppress them by covering the tea plants for 10 days before harvesting. Also, to
enhance the unique aroma, the picked tea leaves are dried in the sun for a short time.
“Sayamakaori" has an assertive flavor. It goes well with Japanese sweets such as red bean paste, and with Western sweets such as cakes and marrons glaces. A cup of Sayama-kaori in the afternoon
will give you the energy to "make one more push".
Fukumidori by Onishi-en
Onishi-en was founded 240 years ago in Edo period. It has a tea plantation of about 3 hectares on Kaneko-dai, Iruma-city, Saitama. Tsuyoshi Nakajima, the young owner, is a leading tea producing master in Sayama. He has won the first prize eight times at the national competition of green tea leaves hand twisting. Fuku-midori was developed and registered by Saitama Tea Research Institute in 2003 and now it is one of the representative varieties in Sayama. This is a hybrid of Yabukita and 23F1-207.
In processing Fukumidori, Onishi-en withers the raw leaves picked through drying them in the sun for about 6 hours, which brings out floral aroma and taste. Rich flavor will give you profound satisfaction after tasting.
◆Production data
Cultivation：Tea plantation 50 meters away from
the manufacturing factory
Covering：None
Picking：May 14, 2021
Withering：6 hours under the sun
Steaming：85 seconds (Deep Steaming)
Drying：28 minutes
Okuharuka by Shimizu-en
Shimizu-en has a history of more than 250 years. It has a tea plantation of 3.2 hectares in Sayama-city, Saitama. They mainly use organic fertilizers that come from biological materials. Their tea production is friendly to the environment. Okuharuka is a hybrid of Saitama No.20 and Saitama No.7. It is a new variety registered and publicized by Saitama Tea Research Institute in 2015. Its name comes from two facts; tea leaves are picked late: it has a sweet aroma “ka” that makes you reminded of spring “haru” in Japanese.
Okuharuka has just the right balance of sweetness, umami, bitterness, and astringency. The taste is so good that you would like to drink more and more. By using hot water, you can make the most of its distinguished aroma.
◆Production data
Cultivation：Tea plantation 350 meters away from
the tea manufacturing factory
Covering：None
Picking：May 11, 2021
Withering：None
Steaming time：120 seconds (Deep Steaming)
Drying：30 minutes
Yumewakaba by Shimizu-en
Shimizu-en is one of the old tea farms that started cultivating tea in the 18th century. It has a tea farm of 3.4 hectares in Fujisawa, Iruma-city, Saitama. Shimizu-en sticks to the good old method of tea production, that is, picking tea leaves by hand. During a harvest season, they employ about 30 people to pick the leaves by hand.
The 18 th owner, Mr. Tomoya Shimizu, is a hard worker. He makes tea bags while cultivating and manufacturing tea.
This "Yume-wakaba" is particularly fragrant due to the wilting process, so that when you pour this tea from pot into a cup, the table is filled with the scent of flowers. It goes well not only with sweet Japanese confectionery but also with cake.
"Yume-wakaba" is a new variety raised by Saitama Tea Research Institute in 2006. It is a hybrid of“Yabukita” and “Saitama No.9”It has a wonderfully floral fragrance and the taste is a little strong in astringency and bitterness.
◆Production data
Cultivation：Tea plantation 250 meters away from
the tea manufacturing factory
Covering：None
Picking：May 7, 2021
Withering：6-7 hours in a withering machine
Steaming time：120 seconds (Deep Steaming)
Drying：30 minutes
Hokumei by Hiraoka-en
Hiraoka-en is a farm that owns about three hectares of tea plantation in Shimotomi, Tokorozawa-city,Saitama. This is one of the locations where Kawagoe-han(local government) developed new rice fields in the beginning of the Edo period(17C). It was registered as a historical heritage of Japanese agriculture in 2017.
They have been carrying out sustainable and circulatory agriculture, using compost made of fallen leaves. Hokumei is a variety registered by Saitama Tea Research Institute in 1995. It is a hybrid of Sayama-midori and Saitama No.13(Yabukita seedling).
It is well balanced in umami, sweetness, astringency, and bitterness. You can smell the fragrance of fresh leaves in spring. When you take this tea with sweet confectionery such as chocolate, cake, and Japanese confectionery, the sweetness and astringency enhance each other, and the taste becomes even better.
◆Production data
Cultivation：Tea plantation200 meters away from
the tea manufacturing factory
Covering：4 Days
Picking：May 7, 2021
Withering：None
Steaming time：55 seconds (Mediun Steaming)
Drying：30 minutes
Tsuyuhikari by Shimizu-en
Shimizu-en is one of the old tea farms that started tea cultivation in the 18th century. They have a 3.4 ha tea farm in Fujisawa, Iruma City, Saitama Prefecture. Shimizu-en has been farming in this area for a long time, and has been actively working on innovative techniques and methods (such as tea bag production, introduction of a wilting machine, etc.) while maintaining the tradition.
“Tsuyuhikari” is a new variety developed by Shizuoka Tea Research Institute and registered in 2003. It is a hybrid of the fragrant "Shizu7132" and the umami-rich "Asatsuyu" variety.
It is a tea with less astringency and more sweetness and flavor. It has a refreshing aroma of young leaves and its water color is rich green. Shimizu-en's “Tsuyuhikari” tea is particularly rich in aroma, for it is wilting for six to seven hours. When brewed in cold water, this tea tastes especially good; the umami and sweetness of the tea is enhanced, is beautiful and refreshing.
◆Production data
Cultivation：Tea plantation400 meters away from
the tea manufacturing factory
Covering：None
Picking：May 8, 2021
Withering：6 hours in a withering machine
Steaming time：120 seconds (Deep Steaming)
Drying：30 minutes
Black tea “Yutaka-midori” by Takano-en
Takano-en is a small farm with a tea plantation area of 0.95 ha in Iruma City, Saitama Pref.
In 2007, the farm switched to pesticide-free cultivation and is currently in the process of applying for organic JAS certification.
"Yutaka-midori" is an old variety, selected at the National Tea Research Institute in Shizuoka and registered in 1966. It is mainly grown in the Kyushu region and is currently the second most popular variety with the largest cultivated area after “Yabukita”.
After the tea leaves for sencha have been plucked, the vigorously growing buds are harvested, wilted, twisted and oxidised fermented to produce this black tea.
Although "yutaka-midori" has a strong astringency and bitterness when made into sencha, but when made into black tea it has almost no astringency and is surprisingly sweet. Even those who usually drink black tea with sugar can enjoy this Japanese black tea "Yutaka-midori" without sugar.
“Yabukita” by Tanaka-seichaen
Tanaka-seichaen is a small-scale tea farmer with a 1.2 ha tea farm in Iruma City, Saitama Prefecture. It has been farming at its current location since the 16th century. Mr. Nobuo Tanaka, present owner, is the 19th successor.
In 2016, they converted to organic tea cultivation, and are currently applying for JAS organic certification. Asked about the primary reasons for switching to organic tea cultivation, Mr. Tanaka said, ”When I went abroad, asked about the characteristics of my tea, I was at a loss for an answer. I also learned that organic products were sold independently in overseas markets.” However, organic farming is more difficult than one might think. The whole family works together to weed.
Yabukita is a major tea variety that accounts for 75% of the total tea cultivation area in Japan. It is said to have been cultivated since the Meiji era (1868-1912), It became popular nationwide after it was officially registered in 1953. Yabukita has spread quite rapidly because of its extremely high quality: it has excellent cold tolerance; it is easy to grow; and when made into sencha, it has fresh aroma, beautiful yellow-green water color, and well-balanced sweetness and astringency.
Tanaka-seichaen's Yabukita tea is made even sweeter and more delicious by improving organic fertilizers and using far-infrared wood for Hiire drying.
It does not go well with strong-flavored sweets such as chocolate and marrons glacé, but except for them, it is an excellent tea for almost all sweets and dishes.
