Uji Honzu Gyokuro

Size 10g 20g

Year 2023 2024

Price

~~$10.00~~

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20 grams

Single Origin | Single Cultivar

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Straw-shaded for over a month before being hand-picked, this gyokuro has an enticingly sweet aroma, an umami rich body, and a long-lasting finish

Honzu (本簀) shading is the most traditional shading method. Dating back at least over 400 years, the Honzu method uses the same shelf system as kanreisha but uses a screen of reeds as the first layer of shading instead of synthetic fabric. Though considerably more labour intensive and expensive to construct, the reed screen allows for even more air and moisture to circulate around the plants producing higher-quality, more complex teas. Additional layers of shading are added by placing straw mats on top of the reed screen.

Uji city in Kyoto has long been at the centre of Japanese tea and has been famed for its high-quality matcha production for centuries, dating back to the 12th century. The shading method used to produce modern matcha (c. 16th century) along with sencha (1737) and gyokuro itself (1835) were all invented by Uji farmers looking to push the boundaries of tea quality. Though the name Ujicha remains associated with high-grade tea, most tea branded as Ujicha is produced in the neighbouring towns of Ujitawara, Minamiyamashiro, Kizugawa, and primarily Wazuka.

Cultivar: Samidori

Region: Uji, Kyoto

Producer: Yoshida Meichaen

Harvested: May 10, 2024

Elevation: 15m

Shading: 32 Days; Honzu

Picking: Hand-picked

Brewing Instructions

Tea/Water Ratio

4g per 50ml of water
(.14oz per 1.7oz)

Water Temperature

45º C (113ºF)

Brewing Time

2 minutes 30 seconds

Meet the Producer

Yoshida Meichaen (吉田銘茶園)

The leader of Yoshida Meichaen is 16th generation farmer Riichi Yoshida (吉田利一) who has been working alongside his younger brother for over 65 years. They are helped out by their sons who will become the 17th generation owners of the farm. Riichi-san is also the Chairman of the Uji Tea Hand-rolling Preservation Association, preserving the hand-rolling method of his grandfather which was certified as an intangible cultural property.

Founded over 200 years ago, the small 2 hectare tea fields of Yoshida Meichaen are nestled in the Ogura district of Uji. When they started growing here, their fields were surrounded by many other farms, but in the past 30 years, these tea fields were replaced by houses and buildings as the city of Uji grew.

Though the scenery may have changed, the Yoshida family still produces tea using traditional methods, such as hand-rolling, hand-picking, honzu straw shading, and sorting tea using traditional bamboo screens rather than modern metal sieves. They have competed in the National Tea Competition every year since it started over 75 years ago, and have won 1st place in the over 20 times.

Since the 14th generation, the Yoshida family has also been entrusted with the management of one of the oldest tea gardens in Kyoto, and perhaps in Japan, at Kosanji Temple in Toganoo, where the bushes were sown with seeds brought from Song Dynasty China by Eisai.

Cultivar: Samidori

Not to be confused with the more popular Saemidori, Samidori is a classic Uji cultivar. Though it is one of the oldest cultivars, bred by Uji tea breeder Koyama Masajirou (小山政次郎) in 1939, it is technically unregistered. It was developed to be suitable for shaded teas, with leaves that grow vertically for easy hand-picking.

Today, Samidori is commonly grown in Kyoto for use in gyokuro and matcha where the cultivar’s bright green colour and deep umami shine through.