From the fields of family-operated tea farm, Tomizawa Tea Garden, a shincha shaded for about 2 weeks before early May harvest (making it a kabusecha).

The Saeakari tea cultivar is quite new on the tea market. A descendant of Saemidori and Z1 cultivars, it is ready for harvest a little after Saemidori and before Yabukita cultivars, producing more volume. In the spring, like Saemidori, it produces leaves with a bright green color. While each tea's flavor is also heavily influenced by the farmer's cultivation and processing skill (and their intended flavor), expect a bright green, sweet tea from this product.

As a steamed tamaryokucha (or guricha), the leaves are not rolled into straight needles as you would see with sencha, but rather left slightly curled by skipping the last rolling step.

Steeping Notes

• Tea: 3-5 grams
• Time: 1 minute
• Water temperature: 60C/140F degrees
• Water amount: 1 cup
• Resteep at hotter temperature up to 3 times. We recommend the second steep to be quick -- in and out, since the leaves are primed for extraction.
• Use hotter temperature & longer steeping time for a more astringent tea, use cold water or ice steeping for a very sweet tea. 

Product Info

• Ingredients: Green tea
  
• Cultivar: Saeakari
• Harvest: Early May
  
• Steaming: Slightly longer than regular steaming but retains shape well, so not quite fukamushi (deep steamed)
• Region: Mashiki, Kumamoto

Vendor Info

The Tomizawa Tea Garden has over 85 years of tea farming history in Kumamoto Prefecture, and have received many famous tea awards in Japan. The family grows tea with a lot of sunlight and Kumamoto’s natural ground water famous for its clean and beautiful taste.

In April 2016, Mashiki, Kumamoto Prefecture affected by the Kumamoto Earthquakes with main shock at magnitude 7.0. The earthquakes have resulted in 48 deaths, 3000 injuries, and nearly 200,000 people evacuated to shelters in the aftermath.

Tomizawa Tea garden also had been affected by this earthquake losing their tea shop. However, they used this opportunity to rebuild their shop in 2018, calling it the Greentea.Lab.

• Name: Tomizawa Tea Garden / Greentea.Lab
• Location: 47 Oyatsu, Mashiki, Kamimashiki-gun, Kumamoto 861-2204
• Established: April 1928

Learn more about the farmers here!