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Shizuoka Hon Yama which is well-known as the Gift Tea to King Tokugawa Ieyasu is suitable for the genuine Japanese tea drinker.
The upstream of Warashina River that is the tributary of Abe River in Shizuoka produces a very thick fog that is acts as a natural curtain to tea gardens located on the slopes of the mountain. As a result, tea contains a very high percentage of amino acid and green pigment that gives an outstanding sweetness, umami, mellow taste and sakura-like flavor lingering after-taste. We emphasize on the original taste of Hon Yama Sencha, therefore we do not conduct any blending but stick to the single origin of Hon Yama tea. The strength of Hon Yama tea not only comes from its quality that you will experience but also from the management of pesticide usage at each tea garden. With an intensive traceability system, we are able to trace the farmer, garden, the type of pesticide, and the concentration used at fixed periods. With this system, Hon Yama Sencha is managed at a very low pesticide usage. The co-existence of traditional and advance pesticide control system gives reliability to Hon Yama tea.
Abe River is one of the very steep and clear-water rivers in Japan. Alongside the river, there are a number of slopes. This place usually generates fog and the daytime is short. These are the good conditions to produce high quality tea. According to one of the literature (茶?集成), it recorded that there were wild tea bushes found along the Abe River during the Kamakura Era. It is believed that Abe River climate is very suitable for tea cultivation.
The literature (?福寺志) stated that the first tea bush was seeded by the monk who belonged to the Kamakura government (year 1244). Considering the oldest record of Japanese Tea that was written in 1211 by the monk named Ei Sai (?西), Hon Yama tea was one of the oldest teas in Japan. Since then, various literatures made mention that Shizuoka was a tea growing area. The fame of Hon Yama tea reached to maximum heights thanks to King Tokugawa Ieyasu who built the Edo Era. According to records, the King Tokugawa constructed the tea store deep inside the mountain, upstream of Abe River in order to maintain the quality of His tea. During the Meiji Era (end of 18th century), the quantity of tea produced and exported was drastically increased. However, the tea produced along the Abe River was strictly meant for the Japan high-end market. In order to differentiate their quality from ordinary green tea, the name Hon Yama was given as a brand to represent its premium quality. At present, the Shizuoka Prefecture produces the largest volume of green tea in Japan. The Shizuoka Town located nearby the Abe River is known as the biggest trading market of Japanese green tea. Up to date, the Hon Yama tea always maintains a good reputation of premium teas among the Shizuoka teas.
One of the quality criteria of Japanese green tea is its sweetness. It is amino acid called theanine. The young bud is rich in theanine. When the tea leaves absorb sunshine, theanine is biologically converted into polyphenol such as catechins, which gives a bitter taste. The tea garden of Hon Yama which is distributed along the Abe River banks, is located on the slopes of a mountain, approximately from mid-mountain to the upper area. The river constantly produces a very thick fog which covers the tea garden and blocks out the sunshine. Without sunshine, the bio-conversion of theanine to polyphenol is slowed down. Therefore, Hon Yama tea contains a very high percentage of theanine.
Polyphenol is the substance which gives bitterness and astringency. Although some people may prefer the bitter taste of green tea, the high-end Japanese green tea is supposed to be sweet. Thanks to the geographical factors, Hon Yama area always produces tea leaves that contain a high percentage of theanine. Hojo particularly selects the tea from the Warashina River slopes which is located deep inside the Abe River and selects tea from the tea garden up on the mountain slopes.
Hon Yama tea is produced from Yabukita. Starting from end of April until beginning of May, first flush is plucked based on the criteria; one bud and two leaves. Hojo selects the first flush particularly the early batch. The reason is that, soon after this period, the raining season starts and tea plants grow very fast, which will cause the taste of tea to become thin.
Plucking is conducted after the sunrise in order to avoid the morning dew. Contamination of morning dew will cause partial over-heating during the steaming process that destroy the tissues of tea leaves and affects the quality. Therefore, good Sencha must be produced from tea leaves plucked during a sunny day.
Tea leaves plucked from different tea gardens are segregated. Different tea gardens carry different lot numbers and will not be mixed in order to establish their the clear traceability.
The quality of Sencha is depending on the steaming process. In order to bring out the identical character of Hon Yama tea, the steaming process is conducted at a very short time of about 30 seconds. Applying the high temperature steam for a short time, will result the tea leaves to become very dry and it will not be moistened by condensation. This is one of the key points to produce good quality teas.
Tea leaves have to be quickly cooled down and at the same time evaporate the moisture. Immediate reduction of the wet heat is very important to avoid secondary heating of tea leaves.
Effectively dries by agitating the tea leaves under the hot air. At the same time, the mixing will soften the leaves.
This is the only process conducted without heat. The machine moves in circular motion with pressure that spread the moisture of tea leaves evenly. The tea leaves generates heat due to the friction. Therefore, at regular intervals it is necessary to loosen the tea leaves and release the heat.
A rotary dryer is used, gently rolling the tea leaves and conducts the drying, reducing the moisture, and twist the tea leaves into a finer shape.
It is the reciprocal movement of back and forth, combined with circular motion, twisting the tea leaves into a needle shape. High quality Sencha appeares to be dark green in color, shinny and solid.
After the final rolling, the tea leaves still contain moisture. Drying will reduce moisture until 5%. These leaves are called Aracha (crude tea). Aracha has not undergone the firing process. Compared with the finished tea product, the flavor of fresh leaves and bitterness is very strong.
Each tea wholesaler purchase Aracha as raw material, and based on their individual process, they will conduct firing. This is how they create their original quality. Subsequently, they will blend a few kinds of tea and create a wholesaler’s original brand.
As for Hojo’s Hon Yama tea, we emphasize on the traditional taste and flavor of Hon Yama. The firing process is carried out by a technician who lives in Hon Yama based on their traditional method and process into the actual Hon Yama taste. In particular, we conduct very short firing process in order to enhance the delicate greenish fragrance of Hon Yama tea.
The taste of Sencha consists of bitterness, astringency, sweetness (umami) and total balance. Each taste is reflected by different types of substance. Therefore, depending on the brewing method, the balance is influenced and the result in totally a different taste. We suggest that everyone should learn the standard method, and after understanding it, develop your own method and enjoy your cup of tea.
In case the of using tap water, it is necessary to use water filter boil for a few minutes. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to enjoy the authentic taste. If using a commercial mineral water, it is important to choose natural mineral water. Never use processed distilled water, and RO water as these water make tea become tasteless due to the lack of mineral.soft water is better than hard water. Brewing tea with hard water makes taste very bitter while soft water makes taste gentle and sweet. The softness of water is written on the bottle as TDS: total desolved solid. You need to choose water that TDS is below 100mg/liter.
If brewing tea for 2-3 persons, tea leaves used per person is about 3g.
If brewing tea for 1 person, tea leaves used should be slightly more, about 5g.
It is important not to use boiling water. Boiling water should be poured into an empty glass or any container, let it cool down until you can hold the glass by hand for 5 seconds. Usually the temperature is relatively higher for Deep Steamed
Sencha at around 75-80 degree, 65-75 degree for Sencha and 45-60 degree for Gyokuro. For second brewing onwards,
gradually increase temperature by step-wise. Most importantly, do not jump up to boiling temperature. The more steps
you have before reaching to boiling temperature, the more number of brewing you can enjoy.
Pour the hot water into the tea pot, and brew for 1-2 minutes.For the second and third brewing, please stick to the temperature that is as low as the first brewing. Brewing time for 2nd and 3rd brewing is as short as 20-30 seconds. The forth and fifth brewing, please increase water temperature +10 degree C. The sixth brewing onward, please progressively increase brewing temperature in order to maintain the thickness of tea. At last, you can use boiling water to brew tea.
It is advisable to use a clay tea pot as it improves the taste. Hojo recommends reduced clay such as “Banko” tea pot or Tokoname Change Kilin tea pot that reduces the astringency taste.
Traditionally, the Japanese never use a pitcher. The tea is directly poured from the tea pot into respective tea cups. In order to make the concentration evenly, we have to pour one cup after another, repeating a few times until the last drop of tea. The purpose of pouring until the last drop is to extract the concentrated liquor. This is important as tea leaves must be filtered well and kept without water to avoid the liquor becoming bitter and stewed. Besides, it prevents tea leaves from being over cooked. In addition, filtration will make it ready for the second brewing.
After pouring the tea, you have to leave the lid open to avoid further steaming of tea leaves.
Brewing tea at high temperature will give a bitterness and astringency while will overtake the sweetness which is the character of this tea. Therefore, brewing at lower temperature for longer time is important. However, if you prefer very hot and bitter taste, brewing at 90?C for 30 seconds is one of the ways, but controlling the timing is rather difficult and practise is necessary.
Most of Green Teas can be brewed in cold water. The better quality of tea will gives nicer taste both in cold and hot water brewing.
1. Measure 1 table spoons of tea leaves for 500ml of water.
2. Pour in water and leave it for more than 1 hour.
3. Stir the container in order to even out its concentration.
4. Usually the taste of tea is getting thicker when it is brewed for more than a few hours. In this case,
5. top up additional water. Eventually tea can be brewed more than 1 liters per 1 table spoons.
6. Very low caffeine
The benefit of cold water brewing is Tea can last for whole day and the taste is natural sweet and refreshing. Thanks to the cold water extraction, the level of caffeine in tea is extremely low. You would not suffer from sleepless night. It can be
even enjoyed by kids.
Keep in a refrigerator. We do not recommend the freezer as tea leaves will deteriorate faster in the freezer. Tea has to be sealed tightly, otherwise, when tea is withdrawn from fridge, it will get wet due to condensation. When removing tea from the fridge, leave it at room temperature in order to warm it up.
The fridge usually contains many other foods, and tea leaves will absorb and get contaminated with other flavors. Therefore, tea leaves should be to kept in sealed in an air-tight container.
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