SHINCHA FUKUMIDORI SAITO 50g

• Steaming: Asamushi (light steaming)
• Cultivar: Fukumidori (ふくみどり)
• Region: Honyama, Shizuoka
• Harvest: spring, May

A delicious sencha that gives a proper boost of energy, made only from Fukumidori leaves. Mr Saito’s Fukumidori is intense, with a clear imprint of his gardens and of Honyama – clean, mineral and fresh like the mountain air it grows in. The liquor is a beautiful golden green with a lively aroma and a long finish; light asamushi steaming preserves the tea’s delicacy, structure and nutrients.

Fukumidori was bred in Saitama Prefecture by crossing Yabukita back with a Yabukita × Sayamamidori hybrid and registered in 1986. It is notably resistant to cold and has a refreshing aroma distinct from Yabukita. Its name carries a wish for good fortune: fuku means luck or blessing and midori green – a green tea of good fortune.

Mr Katsuya Saito’s tea gardens lie in Honyama (本山), the mountainous upper reaches of the Abe and Warashina rivers north of Shizuoka City and one of Japan’s most celebrated tea districts. Mist rising from the river valleys shades the bushes naturally, nights are cool and the harvest comes up to a month later than in the lowlands. The resulting yama no cha (“mountain tea”) is known for its fresh aroma, delicate taste and pleasant minerality. Honyama tea is said to have been a favorite of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Mr Saito switched to organic farming more than 40 years ago, and his farm has held JAS organic certification since 2001. He uses no pesticides or chemical fertilizers, enriches the soil with organic mineral fertilizers he makes himself and keeps to the traditional light asamushi steaming typical of the mountains, which gives a clear golden-green liquor. I first came across his tea by lucky chance – through his wife, at a farmers’ market in Shizuoka City.