Nara
What we carry from Nara are the teas of Tsukigase and Tsuge. Both are mountain areas on the Yamato Plateau, at roughly 300 to 500 meters, where the gardens sit mainly on iron-rich red soil. Together with a cool inland climate and a wide swing between day and night temperatures, that ground has supported tea growing in Nara for a long time.
Tea from Nara is called Yamato tea today, but from the Edo period into the modern era this was one of the areas that produced Uji tea. Aracha made in Tsukigase and Tsuge was carried to Uji along the Uji river system, finished there, and sold as Uji tea. Uji tea at that time was a commercial brand rather than an administrative boundary, and Nara was an important part of its production base.
After the war, agricultural administration introduced rules on labeling the place of origin, and Uji tea was given standards covering where its raw leaf came from and in what proportion. That was a new administrative measure, different from the trade custom that came before it. As a result, tea grown in Nara that had historically been sold as Uji tea is now classified as tea from Nara and sold as Yamato tea.
Nara
Tsuge Zairai Sencha 都祁在来煎茶
Tsukigase Black Tea Benihikari 月ヶ瀬紅茶 ベニヒカリ
Tsuge Wood-Fire Roasted Hojicha, Light Roast 都祁薪火焙茶 軽焙
Tsukigase Withered Sencha 月ヶ瀬萎凋煎茶
Tsukigase Zairai Sencha 月ヶ瀬在来煎茶
