A sublime, first-pluck Sencha which has been shade-grown for two weeks to enhance its depth and savoury-sweet character.
Yame is a historic tea-growing prefecture and one of the first areas to cultivate tea in Japan over 600 years ago. We have been sampling Yame tea for a number of years and finally, we fell in love with a tea to offer to our clients.
This tea was picked from gardens set up in the Taisho era (1912-1926). It is made from a single cultivar which we adore called Saemidori (cross between Asatsuyu and Yabukita). This is not just a Shincha (first flush Spring tea) - this is a FIRST-PLUCK tea which means it is the very first growths of the year picked in April.
Yame is famed for producing Gyokuro and interestingly, this tea was shade-grown similar to a Gyokuro for two weeks. This maintains higher levels of Theanine for that extra rich and brothy taste and even more of that feel-good feeling (Theanine is a mood enhancer).
I love the depth and smoothness of this Sencha - sitting somewhere between a Sencha and a Gyokuro - with warmth, sweetness, thickness and a potent elegance.
