SHINCHA SAEAKARI SAITO 50g

• Steaming: Asamushi (light steaming)
• Cultivar: Saeakari
• Region: Honyama, Shizuoka
• Harvest: first flush (ichibancha), May

The first thing that catches your eye on Mr Saito’s Saeakari (さえあかり, “clear brightness”) is the leaf – beautifully rolled needles that promise a delicious cup. The aroma of the dry leaf takes you to a freshly mown meadow with a gentle breeze from the sea. The taste is full and intense with an almost buttery texture – the high content of L-theanine and other amino acids can literally be felt on the tongue, in the most pleasant way.

Saeakari was bred at the Makurazaki tea research station in Kagoshima from a 1989 cross of Saemidori and Z1 and registered in 2011. From Saemidori it inherits sweetness and umami, from Z1 vigor and better tolerance of cold. Its name combines “sae” from Saemidori with “akari”, brightness – it gives high-quality tea even under strong summer sun.

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.