Contest Grade 99 P.
| Details | Very rare, aromatic koshun cultivar. Made by Masayuki Miyazawa. |
| Character | Exceptionally aromatic, with a long-lasting flavour; distinct jasmine and apricot notes with a touch of hay; very full umami with sweetness and delicate bitterness; well-rounded and light |
| Tea Garden | Mr. Masayuki Miyazawa |
| Terroir | Tenryu, Shizuoka (prefecture) |
| Harvest | 1st harvest (ichibancha), hand-picked beginning of May, 2020. Only the bud and first 3 leaves |
| Cultivar | Koshun |
| Elevation | 300m above sea level |
| Steaming | Short (asamushi, approximately 20 seconds) |
| Shading | No shading |
| Organic Cert. | The tea field has been JAS certified organic since 2002; however, this relatively small tea field cannot afford the costs of EU organic certification. |
| Laboratory Tests | Radioactivity (Region 11/2019) |
| Grade | 99/100 P. (sencha category); Contest Grade |
Small, family-owned tea farm in its second generation. Mr. Masayuki Miyazawa, now in his seventies, continues to personally attend to farming as well as production, taking advantage of his decades of experience.
From a prime tea farm in Tenryu, Shizuoka. This rare and very aromatic koshun cultivar is briefly steamed (asamushi) to produce a complex sencha with an unusual character. The koshun carries pleasant notes of jasmine and apricot, with a touch of hay and umami. The delightful taste lingers on the tongue. One of the great sencha of Japan.
Attractive, delicate and long needles; juicy, silky
Bright and clear green
Sencha is by far the most commonly cultivated and consumed green tea in Japan and constitutes the backbone of Japanese tea traditions. The leaves are typically steamed for 10-60 seconds, dried with hot air, churned, and via a multi-staged process rolled into flat needles. The flavour profile of sencha is very diverse and varies between sweet, fresh and grassy to robustly bitter. The region of cultivation as well as quality of the tea play a significant role in determining flavour.
The tea field is located in the picturesque valley of the Tenryu River in Shizuoka. The very steep slopes rising up from the river form the perfect terroir, as the land is fertile and well supplied with water.
This tea is exclusively sourced from the above mentioned tea farm in Tenryu. Sourced directly from the tea farmer.
2 heaped tsp per 100-300ml (50-60°C) water. Steep for 2 minutes. Suitable for several infusions.
High quality, airtight, resealable standing zipper pouch with 9 protective layers to preserve flavour and protect against oxidation and contamination
The ideal teapot for this sencha is a banko kyusu made from violet clay with a fine ceramic sieve, which can best bring out the full taste of the amino acids. Alternatively, a black tokoname kyusu can be used, which is a good all-rounder for preparing green teas.
Ideally store in a quality tea caddy made from cherry tree bark (wooden, kabazaiku chazutsu) or an airtight, double-coated metal tin.
