When I meet some elderly people, they often tell me that tea they had drunk when they were young were much more delicious than what they drink now. In the first place, I thought it is just their sentimental feeling of yearning for the past. However, I kept hearing this from many people when I visited the tea manufacturing area. It makes me wonder the major difference between the modern day tea processing methods compared to the old day.

In fact, there is not much difference in the process of tea then and now, except for the rolling method. In modern day, most of Japanese green tea is processed by machine, while in old days tea was rolled by hand; it is called “temomi”. Temomi will make tea look more beautiful and give a thicker taste, but it doesn’t mean the taste is better. The overall character and quality depends on the material, mineral in particular and other processes such as steaming and firing.

In the old days, the process of tea took much longer time. In modern practice, after the tea leaves are plucked, it is sent to factory and processed at once. In the old days, it was impossible to process the tea that fast. Firstly the tea garden was situated on top of the mountain and the farmer did not have the facility to carry the tea back to their factory all at once. Tea was left at the tea garden or factory for several hours or even up to a day, while waiting for the transportation or process.

As a result of this, the tea becomes "naturally withered". Withering causes the dehydration of tea and it triggers an enzymatic ripening. The tea leaves produce various kinds of substance that greatly contribute to the flavor and aroma.
Although the withering process was carried out unintentionally in the old days, it might have been a crucial process that produces tea with a very nice flavor. I assumed that this might have been the reason why elderly people always emphasize that they are longing for the tea that they had drunk when they were young.

Nowadays, it is very hard to find the tea that is processed following the method of the old days. In modern tea making processing, people believe that it is critical to the quality of tea if the process is delayed which might cause it to deteriorate. Therefore, right after plucking, the tea leaves are immediately steamed and processed. This is the reason that ordinary Japanese tea gives a very greenish flavor and less flowery flavor as compare to Chinese green tea. Some tea manufacturers in Japan often apply intensive firing in order to produce a nutty flavor. But this is different from a flowery flavor.

I was very surprised when I came across Hon Yama Hebizuka Sencha. It is exactly the tea that follows the old method of making tea. In making Hon Yama Hebizuka Sencha, the withering process is carried out on purpose. After plucking, tea is not processed in the same day. Tea leaves are left for 24 hours in a bamboo basket and is only processed the next day. Thanks to the withering process, Hon Yama Hebizuka Sencha gives a very sweet and flowery flavor.

There is another reason that makes Hon Yama Hebizuka very special. Usually most of Japanese green tea is grown at very low elevation. It is due to the climate of Japan. Most of the tea garden in Japan is located at high latitude. There is 4 seasons and in winter, the environment is very cold. However Hon Yama Hebizuka tea garden is located at very high elevation. Its altitude is at about 800m. In Japan, 800-1000m is almost the growing limit of tea tree.

The high mountain weather gives 2 significant benefits.

A: Huge temperature gap between day time and night time.

Higher up on the mountain, the sunshine is stronger. Likewise, we easily get sun-burned when we go to higher altitudes for trekking or sky diving. Tea receives a lot of sunshine in a day time and effectively carries out photosynthesis. Tea produces a lot of organic substances and stores them inside its leaf. At night, the tea leaves will consume the energy (organic substance) for metabolism. At high altitudes, the environment is very different and the temperature at night is very cold that tea can hardly proceed metabolism effectively. After all, most of the organic substances are accumulated inside tea leaves which makes the taste of tea becomes very thick.

B: Winter comes earlier and Spring comes later

In winter, the mineral absorbed by the tea trees from the ground will be accumulated inside the tree. It is because of the plant remains dormant during the very cold environment. This is the resting period of the plant. More mineral will be accumulated in the tree if the resting period is prolonged. The accumulated mineral will be distributed into the first up-coming tea leaves in spring. Mineral in tea is the primary element that contributes to the long lasting after taste. In a way, the longer the resting period of tea, the better the taste of tea. In addition, Hebizuka tea is plucked only once a year in spring. Moreover at high mountain like Hebizuka, winter comes earlier while spring comes later as compared to lower altitude areas. As such, the tea trees has even longer resting period. Tea contains an extraordinary amount of minerals. In Hebizuka mountain area, there are plenty of stones which are rich in iron content. Iron is one of the best minerals that contribute to the ideal taste of tea.

Hebizuka tea has a very strong floral flavor and lingering after taste thanks to a very unique process and special environmental/geographical advantage.

Hon Yama is located deep inside Shizuoka city. The name of Hon Yama is used for the tea grown along the Abe River or Warashina River stream. Abe River is one of the steep and clear-water rivers in Japan. There are a number of slope along the river side. This place is covered by fog and the daytime is short that limits the growing speed of tea and makes flavor and taste of tea thicker.

The literature (東福寺志) stated that the first tea bush was seeded by a monk during Kamakura era (year 1244). According to the oldest record of Japanese tea written in 1211 by a monk named Ei Sai (栄西), Hon Yama tea was one of the oldest teas in Japan.

The tea produced along the Abe River was usually meant for the high-end market in Japan. In order to differentiate their quality from ordinary green tea, the name Hon Yama was given as a brand to represent its premium quality. The fame of Hon Yama tea reached the climax thanks to Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu who founded the Edo Era. According to the records, the Shogun Tokugawa constructed the tea store deep inside the mountain at the upstream of Abe River in order to maintain the quality of his tea.

Hebizuka is the name of the mountain located at the highest point of Hon Yama area. It is a very small area where only 10 families stay near the peak of Hebizuka. Out of 10 families, only a few families are involves in the tea business. In Hebizuka, the person who plant tea is also in charge of making tea. Each family has a small tea making facility that is attached with their own house. Our Hon Yama Hebizuka is made by Nakamura family.

Shizuoka is well known for fine Sencha and Deep Steamed Sencha. I often heard from my customers who commented that "they do not really like Sencha". To be honest, I wonder what type of sencha they are referring to. As a matter of fact, any tea produced in Japan could be named as Sencha. But if you want to experience the fine quality, you can not miss Sencha produced in Shizuoka..

Basically Shizuoka tea garden consists of 2 kinds as follow.

A: Mountain area along the Southern Alps

The tea garden is at a higher elevation. Each garden produces quality tea rather than the quantity.

 

B:Tea produced on the hill or slope

This is relatively at a lower elevation as compared to the mountain area.
The tea gardens are developed in a larger scale. The production of tea is meant for quantity, although they also maintain certain level of quality. The tea garden and the processing are well-taken care of. However the material is not as superior as mountain tea.

Hon Yama is classified as mountain tea. Each tea garden is kept in a small scale and managed by respective families. The majority of the tea gardens are located at the steep slope of the mountain. The name of Hon Yama Tea is applied for the garden that is situated along the Abe River stream. Abe River flows from Japan Southern Alps (3000m above sea level). It takes 50 over kilometer to reach Pacific Ocean.

Hebizuka tea is also one of the Hon Yama Tea. Hebizuka is the name of the peak that is located at the upper stream of Abe River. The altitude of Hebizuka is at around 750-800m. Due to the high latitude of Japan, the tea tree cannot survive over the winter if it is grows at an altitude more than 1000m above sea level. Considering that, the altitude of the Hebizuka tea garden is almost the growing limit of tea in Shizuoka.

In Hebizuka, due to the high altitude, spring comes a month later and winter comes a month earlier than ordinary tea gardens in Shizuoka. Eventually Hebizuka has additional 2 months of resting period in winter. The longer resting period helps tea to accumulate minerals. Therefore, the first up-coming tea leaves are very rich in mineral and gives a strong after taste and you can also enjoy the flavor that slowly meanders down the throat. On the other hand, the tea tree planted at lower elevation contains less mineral and therefore it lacks the depth of after taste and flavor, although it gives strong aroma. The quality of tea is in proportion to the intensity of after taste. The long resting period is an essential factor to produce the fine quality.

Despite of high quality of Hon Yama Hebizuka Sencha, the price of this tea in the market is comparatively low. In Japan, the earlier the new season tea is introduced, the higher the price. It is due to the culture of the Japanese who always appreciate the fresh crops. The first batch of Japanese green tea is produced in the middle of April. This is the time when everyone is aware of the new tea season. Basically the most of the tea gardens in Japan finish their harvesting by the first week of May. However, in Hebizuka area, due to the higher elevation, the spring comes one month later. The plucking of first flush is only started in the middle of May. This is exactly a month later than the first spring tea in the market.

After all, tea market in Japan does not appreciate the late harvest tea and eventually gives lower price even if tea is extremely high quality. The farmer, Mr. Nakamura is very much aware of this fact. He does not sell his tea to Shizuoka central tea auction, but directly sell to respective tea company who understands the quality and appreciates his tea. Considering that Hon Yama Hebizuka is only produced by Mr. Nakamura, it is a very limited tea. Only a few companies have the privilege of dealing with his tea.

In fact, there is another factor that makes Hebizuka tea very special. The name of Hebizuka in Japanese is “The Grave of Snake”. When you have a chance to visit the Hebizuka area, you will spontaneously associate the name with its geographical condition. Hebizuka area has many rocks and its appearance resembles those seen in Yi Xing (China), Sado Island and Iga Mountain in Japan. They are all purple, yellow or red in color. If those rocks are found in Yi Xing, people no doubt think these are purple sand: Zisha. The colors of rocks indicate that the soil in Hebizuka is very rich in “Iron” content. Iron is the most essential mineral that contribute to the after taste of tea.

In addition, the mineral-rich soil is very poor in nutrition and fast to drain water. Under such restricted environment, tea grows slowly. As a result, the flavor and taste is highly concentrated inside tea leaf that gives a very rich flavor and strong after taste.

Hon Yama Hebizuka Gyokuro is produced from Yabukita cultivar. Plucking is carried out only once a year in the middle of May. Thanks to the limited number of plucking, the mineral content in tea leaf is much higher than ordinary tea. Tea leaf is hand-plucked. Each twig consists of one bud and two leaves.

Hon Yama Hebizuka Gyokuro undergoes the withering process so as to enhance its floral character. In order to maximize the effect of withering, the tea leaves needs a higher percentage of poly phenol. The withering process is the internal ripening process that converts poly phenol into various kinds of flavor. Young tea leaf contains very rich in amino acid which is converted into poly phenol during photo synthesis. Therefore tea leaf is not harvested until it grows to slightly bigger size than ordinary standard.

Plucking starts after the sunrise in order to avoid the morning dew. The present of morning dew on the tea leave will cause partial over-heating during the steaming process. This will destroy the tissues of tea leaves and affects the quality. Therefore the good tea must be produced from tea leaves plucked during a sunny day.