Organic Wazuka Yabukita Oolong
Azuma ChaenCompared to most Japanese oolongs which are light and floral, this second flush oolong is highly-oxidised, with a dark, fruity sweetness, and prominent minerality.
As it is still an emerging, experimental, and incredibly rare style in Japan, oolongs produced here vary wildly in their production style, some emulating certain Chinese or Taiwanese teas, and others unique in their processing. All, however, are uniquely Japanese in flavour.
Producer: Azuma
Region: Wazuka, Kyoto
Elevation: 600m
Cultivar: Yabukita
Harvested: August 4, 2021
Picking: Handheld Machine
While Uji may be the most famous tea region in Kyoto, most tea sold as “Ujicha” is actually grown in the neighbouring town of Wazuka, located to the southeast, which produces almost 50% of Uji tea. Dating back to the Kamakura era, tea production in Wazuka has enjoyed an 800-year history.
The tea plantations in Wazuka are located on the steep slopes of misty hills and mountains—an environment suitable for high-quality tea leaves, with cool air, short daylight hours, temperature differences between day and night, and well-drained soil. Cultivation of tea plants in such an environment takes a lot of time and effort, making it unsuitable for the methods of mass production employed in the flatlands.
Yabukita is the de facto standard tea cultivar across Japan against which all others are compared, and accounts for 75% of tea fields by area. Its name means ‘north of the bamboo grove’ alluding to its selection in 1908 from a sample of Shizuoka Zairai from the north side of a bamboo grove.
Since its official registration in 1953, it has become incredibly popular due to its frost-resistance, yield, strong aroma, and balanced taste. Its flavour has since become practically synonymous with Japanese tea.
Brewing Instructions
Traditional
Hot Tea
Use 4 g (0.14 oz) of tea leaves for every 100 ml (3.38 oz) of water
Heat your water to 100º C (212º F)
Let it steep for 20 seconds (+5 seconds for subsequent infusions) before pouring slowly until the last drop. Enjoy!
Azuma Chaen (東茶園)
The family business is currently managed by fourth generation Teruko Azuma (東 てる子) who has been involved in her family’s tea production for over 12 years. Now a certified Nihoncha Instructor, she is excited to share the delicious and natural taste of her family’s tea.
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.