SHINCHA OKUYUTAKA SAITO 50g

• Steaming: Asamushi (light steaming)
• Cultivar: Okuyutaka
• Region: Honyama, Shizuoka

A single-cultivar shincha made only from Okuyutaka leaves from Mr Saito’s naturally managed mountain gardens, where the character of the cultivar meets the Honyama terroir.

Okuyutaka (おくゆたか) was bred at the Kanaya tea research station in Shizuoka from Yutakamidori and registered in 1983. It is a late-budding cultivar that copes well with cold – a good match for mountain gardens. Rich in amino acids and relatively low in catechins, it gives a sweet aroma and an intense taste full of sweetness and umami.

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.