Thanks to the prejudice, we can happily selects the “diamond in the rough”

 

Japanese tea industry has long been following a set of quality criteria to evaluate and set the price of Japanese green tea in the tea market. However, sometimes these quality criteria may be biased against certain good quality tea that does not meet their criteria. Thanks to their prejudice, we can happily selects this “diamond in the rough” with a much affordable price.

Kawane Zairai Sencha is a light-steamed Sencha (Asamushi Sencha). It is produced in Kawane. Kawane is located at the upper stream of Oui River (大井川) which is also a tea production area. It is as famous as Hon Yama (本山) where is located along the Abe River (安倍川). Recently, Deep Steamed Sencha is getting very popular among tea drinkers in Japan and the number of Deep Steamed Sencha in the market is becoming overwhelmed. Nevertheless, we particularly select a light-steamed sencha as we want to introduce a Japanese tea that gives a refreshing and pure taste. The color of Zairai Sencha is as light as white wine, yet it gives depth and thickness in taste. 
The biased judgment on the quality criteria of Japanese tea industry gives us an advantage in selection. We managed to pick up a good quality tea with lower price.

To be honest, the price for Japanese tea is not set in proportion to the quality of tea in general. In Japan, the quality of tea is set with very strange and biased criteria. In fact, these criteria are very far away from what actually the tea drinkers are looking for. In any case it is a customary in Japan tea industry to follow those criteria. There are 3 major factors that influence the price of tea in Japanese tea industry, as follow: 

1. Timing

2. The shape of tea leaf

3. Cultivar

Popular cultivar such as Yabukita gets higher price compared to other minor cultivars.  

In a way, any tea that goes against these 3 criteria mentioned above would be set at much lower price. In fact, criteria No.1 and No.2 have nothing to do with the quality of tea in terms of taste and flavor. Within the same production area, tea that can be harvested earlier in season comes from the tea garden located at lower altitude. For tea garden located at higher altitude, harvesting of tea leaves can only be started about half a month or one month later. Needless to say, the quality of tea produced at higher altitude is much better.
Besides, the shape of tea leaves does not affect to the taste and quality of tea too. For Japanese tea, the appearance of tea leaves is affected by the rolling process and absolutely has nothing to do with the quality of a cup of tea. Taking advantage of those prejudices in Japanese tea industry, we happily look for good quality tea at a lower cost.  

Note：Thanks to the above criteria, there is always discrepancy in quality. For example, the tea produced at the garden located at very low altitude, from Yabukita cultivar and produced by a master who is good at controlling the rolling process will surely be simply very expensive. It will be sold as the most exclusive tea in Japan. However no doubt that those expensive teas give relatively flat taste and weak flavor.  

For us, the definition of good quality tea is about the intensity of after taste and richness of flavor. This is a very common quality criterion in Taiwan, India and China, yet in Japan, very few people pay attention to after taste and flavor of tea. As we do not wish to follow the quality criteria of Japan, we can easily find good tea at lower cost.  

100% made of Zairai cultivar that is very rare in Shizuoka.  

The distinctive characteristic of this Sencha is that it is 100% made of Zairai cultivar. Zairai in Japanese language means "existed for a long time" or “native”. This is the exact meaning of the tea tree itself. The word “Zairai” is used not only just for tea but also for fish, fruit and many other things. "Zairai Trout" means the native trout of Japan. Tea is a sub-tropical plant and the origin of tea is from Yunnan province of China. Ecologically there has not been any native tea tree ever found in Japan. According to the history, tea was brought to Japan from China once upon a time. The name of “Zairai”, however, is a little tricky in this context. In Japan, any tea that has long existed there was called Zairai cultivar. But it seems that there are various kinds of Zairai cultivar. Technically, Zairai cultivar that exists in Kyoto and Shizuoka is of different cultivars. Even in Shizuoka prefecture, it seems there are a few different kinds of Zairai. In any case, all of them are just called Zairai.

The Kawane Zairai has reminiscent of Oolong cultivar. Its fresh tea leaf gives a flowery aroma that is similar to fragrance of orchid. When visiting tea garden right after plucking is carried out, it was like standing amidst in a flower garden. 

One of the characters of Zairai cultivar is that it produces much longer root compared to conventional cultivar. Hence the longer root absorbs more minerals and tends to produce tea that gives richer taste and flavor. The richness of tea does not mean strong bitterness or astringency, but the depth of taste. In fact, it gives a very refreshing taste just like white wine and it lingers in our throat for some time.
Usually the older the tree, the better the quality of leaf it produced. This is due to the length of root and surface area. Tea tree that produces tea leaf for Kawane Zairai Sencha is at 50 years old on average. It is not considered very old. However, it is considered as the oldest Zairai in Kawane area.  
Usually tea industry (not referring to the consumer market) in Shizuoka is craving for Yabukita cultivar. It means that the Yabukita cultivar will get a better price as compared to other cultivars. Zairai cultivar only remains in mountainous area and rarely found at low altitude. The quantity of Zairai tea leaf is very limited. So far, the Zairai tea was blended with Yabukita cultivar and never released to the tea market as it is. Under the circumstances, there is no chance to find Kawane Zairai tea in retail shops in Japan. We targeted a specific Zairai garden and visited on the day when they were making Zairai tea. We selected the best batch out of a few productions and managed to purchase genuine and pure Zairai tea that was not blended with any other tea. The only thing that is unfortunate for us is that we need to commit for a larger quantity in order to secure 100% Zairai.    

The tea leaf on the left is Zaira Sencha, while the one on the right is sencha made of Yabukita. The Zairai leaf is darker green and shining.

Farmer always keeps Zairai for their own consumption

The farmer who supplied Zairai tea to us is also producing Yabukita cultivar as well. The interesting point is that every year they make sure keep some quantity of pure Zairai tea for own consumption. Throughout the year, the family enjoys Zairai cultivar. No doubt that the tea farmer always knows the best which tea is delicious. 

We select mountain tea

The tea leaf of Zaira cultivar: Relatively small leaf and the edge is sharp