SHINCHA SAEMIDORI SAITO 50g

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

A single-cultivar shincha made only from Saemidori leaves grown in Mr Saito’s mountain gardens. The character of the cultivar and the Honyama terroir complement each other beautifully here. It is also a forgiving tea – it tolerates less-than-perfect brewing and still gives a delicious cup.

Saemidori (さえみどり, “clear green”) was created by crossing Yabukita with Asatsuyu and registered in 1990. It is known for its vivid green liquor and a high content of amino acids, which give it natural sweetness and umami. It is grown mostly in warm southern Japan, so a mountain-grown Saemidori from Shizuoka is much less common.

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.