Azuma Chaen sniffing fresh tea leaves

Azuma Chaen (東茶園)

Nestled in the hills of eastern Wazuka, Azuma Chaen is a family owned tea farm founded in the late 1800s during the Meiji era. This area of Wazuka is far from any train tracks or major roads, and its scenery of endless rolling hills of tea fields has been designated a cultural landscape of Kyoto.

Azuma Chaen specialises in the production of low-pesticide tencha, the raw material used to produce matcha. Today, around 90% of their 5 hectares of tea fields is dedicated to tencha production and is harvested only once a year, which means they can avoid using pesticides as all of the tea is picked before the arrival of insects. While all of their tea fields make use of lower amounts of pesticides or even none at all, some of their tea fields are already certified JAS organic, with others in the process of conversion.

In addition to tencha, they also produce small amounts of sencha, houjicha, wakoucha, kyobancha, and oolong. As they primarily produce tencha, most of the cultivars that htye grow are well suited for shaded teas, such as Okumidori, Samidori, Asahi, Gokou. They also grow Yabukita and Zairai among others.

5 products

Tezumi Classics Kanoyama matcha pouch with a dark green mountain design beside a silver tin and a dish of matcha powder on a tatami mat.
Whisked green matcha in an oribe-style tea bowl with a green glaze drip at the rim, viewed from above.
Kanoyama - Uji Okumidori Matcha
Smooth, nutty, and chocolatey
Price:From $36.00
Usucha Latte
Silver Tezumi tin of Wazuka Saemidori (さえみどり) matcha beside a small dish of green matcha powder on a tatami mat.
Close view of whisked green matcha in a black bowl with a gold rim.
Wazuka Saemidori Matcha
Bright and Nutty
Price:On Sale from $36.00
On Sale Usucha Latte
White Tezumi pouch of Asanagi Sencha (朝凪) with a cup of brewed tea and a dish of leaves, viewed from above.
Dry deep-green Asanagi sencha leaves in a cream dish, viewed from above.
Asanagi Sencha
Soft and refreshing
Price: $28.00
White Tezumi pouch of Zansho Houjicha (残暑) with a cup of amber tea and a dish of roasted leaves, viewed from above.
Dry roasted brown Zansho houjicha in a cream dish, viewed from above.
Zansho Houjicha
Warm and comforting
Price:From $6.00
Dry roasted brown kyobancha leaves in a cream dish, viewed from above.
Golden-amber Wazuka kyobancha (roasted bancha) brewed in a ceramic cup, viewed from above.
Wazuka Kyobancha
Soft and smoky
Price: $16.00