Details
Houkouen estate – Shizuoka, Japan
Hidden deep in the mountains of Ryogochi, in the middle of the Shizuoka prefecture of Japan, lies the Houkouen tea estate. Run by third-generation tea farmer, Jiro Katahira, Houkouen produces a variety of prized hand-picked green teas on 3.8ha of cultivated land. With an annual production of only 2 tons, we are incredibly excited ( and honoured ) to get our hands on their world class tencha, which we are locally processing on our Japanese-made stone mill to ensure you get to experience this excellent matcha as fresh as possible. We trust that you will enjoy this rare tea that has been grown with so much passion and respect.
We asked Jiro about his farming methods and what makes his matcha so special. This is what he had to say:
“The matcha I make is made from a cultivar called Okuyutaka. Okuyutaka has a strong umami flavor even without relying on fertilizer.
Of course, the umami could be made even stronger by adding more fertilizer, but I believe that would lead to environmental destruction and so I don’t want that.
People are also part of the Earth. I think agriculture needs to be considered in order to minimize environmental pollution as much as possible.
I grow my tea in shade three weeks before harvest, and I use an old-fashioned shading method. For work efficiency, it is common to place shade netting directly over the tea plants, but I set up trellises in my tea fields, creating space between the tea plants and the shade netting. This ensures good quality. The taste and aroma are completely different. There is a reason for using old-fashioned cultivation methods. It makes it impossible to use large machinery, but I don’t want to mass-produce.”
Contains: 100% pure, Japanese Green Tea (stone milled)
Grade: High, Ceremonial Organic and sustainably grown
Best suited for: Matcha Tea (koicha & Usucha), Matcha Latte
Estate: Houkouen
Farmer: Jiro Katahira
Region: Ryogochi, Shizuoka prefecture
Cultavar: Okuyutaka
Altitude: 350m
Shading: 3 Weeks before harvest
Flavour Notes
SWEET. FLORAL. RICH UMAMI. FRESH