What is Single Origin Tea?
Still this explanation may not be clear enough for you. When you go to a supermarket and look for a Japanese green tea, the tea package may be printed and sold as Sayama-tea, Shizuoka-tea, Chiran-tea, Yame-tea, etc. The name before the word “tea” indicates the place of production. Sayama-tea is a general name for tea produced throughout Sayama Hill in Saitama, while Shizuoka-tea means tea produced all over Shizuoka area.
You may not have wondered about this question so deeply: does green tea produced in Sayama always have the same quality and taste? How would you answer? The answer is “No”. Teas produced by different farmers taste different even if they were cultivated in neighboring areas. The quality and characteristics of tea leaves ought to vary depending on the location of the farm, climate, and the soil as well as the farmer’s cultivation method.
The “particular farm” referred to under the explanation of single variety tea in the first paragraph falls on the farmer(s) above. The unique variety tea cultivated at a particular farm is called single variety tea; for example, tea variety 1 cultivated by farmer A, and tea variety 2 cultivated by farmer B are different single varieties.
Yabukita, a leading tea variety that occupies 75% of the Japanese tea production areas
You may have heard the name Yabukita even if you are not so interested in green tea. There are many tea varieties and Yabukita is the representative one. The data shown here is a little old, but it tells us that about 75% of the tea distributed in Japan in 2012 was of Yabukita variety. Yabukita has become the mainstream because it is comparatively tolerant against cold climate, easy to cultivate, and rich in yield. However, besides Yabukita, there are more than one hundred tea varieties in Japan.
Now, before we go into details of single variety tea, we need to learn about the general system of tea production.
Generally speaking, green tea you drink in your daily life is mostly blended tea. Tea leaves are collected from all over Japan and blended by chashi(tea masters) in each tea production area and made into commercial goods. Taste and quality of agricultural products in general, including tea, are affected by the climate of the year.
By blending, you can produce a large amount of tea of almost the same taste. This advantage also makes it possible to produce tea of stable quality. It is the reason why blended tea has become the mainstream.
Enjoy the Characteristics of Single Variety Tea:
Sayama-tea free from Blending
As mentioned before, generally, tea products sold all over Japan have standardized quality due to tea leaves collection and blending. It is true that this system decreases various risks and allows stable supply of tea. However, in Sayama, many farmers have been making efforts every day to produce and market their single variety tea.
Farmers in Sayama are working hard, taking every measure, in raising their single variety tea plants, but their tea tastes different from year to year. Without blending, it is difficult to make stable quality products. Also, naturally, their yield is small. For instance, the yield of Toyoka, an endangered variety, may be 5kg per year or less.
At the same time, the above demerits are merits of single variety tea. It has various characteristics.
Ingredients are different depending on the variety. For example, “Okuharuka” is said to have aroma of cherry leaves because it is rich in coumarin. Also, “Toyoka”, “Hokumei”, and “Sayamakaori” are said to be strong in bitterness and astringency because they have more catechin than others, and “Fukumidori” is a little richer in umami due to comparatively rich theanine.
Single variety tea has unique flavor and characteristics because it is produced by a particular farm. More and more customers come to love this feature. Still many people have an image of green tea as a kind of mass-produced daily commodity, but it is pleasing that the number of single variety lovers are on the increase year after year.
The Decisive Factor of Tea Quality is No Food Mileage
One of the major characteristics of Sayama-tea is that many farmers practice “home cultivation, home processing, home marketing”. This phrase means what it says.
A Sayama tea farm cultivates tea plants at its own garden, processes the tea leaves, and sells the products by itself. On the other hand, in the world of tea production, division of work has developed recently, and it is now common to divide each of the three roles.
Farmers that practice “home cultivation, home processing, home marketing” have tea gardens close to their homes or tea factories. The gardens are located not farther than 500 meters. Tea leaves start to ferment and emit heat soon after picking. The state of heat emission is described as “leaves deterioration” or “leaves burning”. If you leave raw leaves somewhere for a while, they get so hot that you cannot put your hands into the leaves.
Even if you try to make green tea out of “deteriorated” or “burnt” leaves, it will taste too sour to drink.
Thanks to the proximity of their tea gardens, such tea farmers can go on to the steaming process promptly, suppressing leaves fermentation and heat emission. It gives a great influence over the outcome of the tea. The fact that food mileage is next to nothing is one of the great merits of Sayama-tea.
Introductory products of Single Origin Tea
- 1 -
Single Origin Tea
Tasting Pack
Seven kinds of Sayama Single Origin Tea, Sayama-kaori, Okuharuka, Fuku-midori, Gokou, Yumewakaba, Hokumei, and Toyoka, are packed 10g each. Please compare different varieties and find your favorite taste and aroma. This is good as a gift to your friends.
The pattern on the package is designed with the theme of the Iruma River current. This river was notorious as a “Wild River”.
- 2 -
Single Origin Tea Bag
Trial Box
Six kinds of precious Sayama Single Origin Tea, Sayama-kaori, Okuharuka, Fuku-midori, Gokou, Yumewakaba, and Hokumei, are packed in 5g-tea bags each.
This product was devised to meet such requests as; ”I want to drink delicious tea casually at work and home,” “I want to have nice green tea outdoors, too.” Using one tea bag, you can make three brews in a 250ml mug, and with a 600ml teapot, you can serve perfect tea to 3-4 people.
- 3 -
Chatsumi Tea Leaf
This is a set of 5 tea bags, Sayama-kaori, Okuharuka, Fuku-midori, Yumewakaba, and Musashi-kaori, 5g each. This product was designed and developed by university students to express the joy of tea leaves picking. It is proper as a gift to your friends.
The reason is not clear, but this is popular as a “product characteristic of Japan” in foreign countries and is used as small gifts too.
Voices from Customers
Each tea has its own features, sweet taste, clear aftertaste, thick taste, etc. Every time I drink tea, I enjoy the variety. As the amount of tea in a tea bag is larger than ordinary ones, the infused tea seems to have stronger aroma, taste, and color. I made 3-4 brews out of one tea bag. Even the last brew was strong enough and delicious.
A woman
in 20s
Single Origin Tea is a strong feature of your products. You should emphasize this point in marketing. I did not know there are so many varieties of taste in sencha. As I want to know more about Sayama-tea and I cannot go oversea trips right now, I am interested in joining your online trip.
A woman in 30s
I make tea in a teacup, not in a kyusu teapot. The amount of tea leaves may be a little too much. But the taste was perfect. I recommend this tea as a gift or to serve your guests.
A woman in 30s