Japanese Green tea for Life

We are green tea exporter in Japan. Japanese green tea has a lot of varieties such as Sencha, Gyokuro, Matcha. Each of producer in gardens are devorting their life for tea production. We'd like to introduce and share their interesting story. For more info, visit; www.jp-greentea.co.jp/english/

タグ:matcha

By recent Matcha booming in the world, we are pretty busy to manage matcha raw ingredients.
For the large customers, we need to secure the quite big amount of raw ingredient or rough tea (Tencha) as single LOT #. Then it becomes very difficult to secure their necessary amount through the year these days.

Therefore, we encourage tea gardens to try making organic or low pesticide matcha to meet the overseas standard.

I'd like to introduce 2 remarkable but reasonable matcha at here.
Both of them are limited stock, and next available date is next harvest in 2017.

#23098 Kagoshima Organic Matcha 2nd Flush Premium (140kg ONLY)
23098 Kagoshima Organic  2nd Flush 3
Matcha grade basically differenciated by ceremonial or cooking (culinary grade).
The definition of ceremonial grade must be 1st flush spring harvest.

And this is 2nd flush so that it must be cooking grade no matter the taste is.
Then, you can see the color in the photo.
This is very same as 1st flush spring harvest matcha but the price is 2nd flush.

Limited Edition. Only 170kg. 2nd Flush premium organic matcha made at North Kagoshima, but stone milled. Color, aroma, sweetness is equal to organic 1st flush ceremonial grade.


#23053 Kagoshima Ariake No Pesticide matcha 1st Flush. (250kg ONLY)
23053 Ariake 3
Limited Edition. 1st Flush premium pesticide free tea. Only 250kg available in a year. The garden is waiting for JAS Organic approval in 2018. Harvest time is only twice (Spring and Autumn) a year to save the nutrition in matcha. Powdered by Mikage Stone mill.

If you have any question, please contact to
www.jp-greentea .co.jp/english

Thank you very much.

Matcha (green tea powder) becomes very popular in th eworld these days.

But many of them seems confused what is different between Matcha green tea powder and Green tea powder even Japanese.

Simply, look at the below photo as 1st of all,
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Greener is better grade. Left 2 grades are Ceremonial grades.
Right 3 matcha are obviously cooking grades. (above photo)
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In Japan, green tea means Sencha (steamed) green tea.
Then, matcha has to be sun shaded for at least 21 days. (mostly the garden do nealy 30 days)
When they do sun shading?
About a week before they harvest sencha green tea.
So, if the gaden harvest May 3rd, Sun shading starts April 26th. (it depends onj weather and growing situation of tea leaf though)

Sun shading is actually not that easy since green tea are made at everywhere but you don't see matcha made ouutside of Japan.
It cooled down too much often or wet too wet inside. When cooled down too much, tea tree misunderstood that winter comes. So he (she?) goes to sleep mode. (it means he doesn't drink or eat at all so that important nutrition Theanine don't increase even shading!!!)
Then matcha taste bitter and color is not vivid.
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This is inside.
In sun shading, we try to cut 90% of sun light.
But 90% is not consistent: some gets more and some gets less.

Such difference goes to the leaf grade/quality after steaming and drying.
Oh, Matcha leaf don't have a rolling process unlike sencha anyway.

Matcha leaf after steamed and dried, we call it Tencha leaf. (rough tea).
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We differencite by colors. Darker is sweeter so we use it for Grade A (ceremonial).

Then, milling.

Stone mill is lower temperature but it produces only 50g/hour.
Low heat save/remain the emerald green color so we use stone mill for Grade A and Grade B.
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So, Matcha,
is sun shaded for nearly a month.
is not rolled in rough tea process.
is graded after rough tea, tencha.

Ceremonial grade
must be very dark leaf after steamed and dried. 
must be stone milled.

Also, matcha is very weak for light, air and heat.
After you opened the package, let's finish up fast!

Thank you!

If you have any question, please contact to
www.jp-greentea .co.jp/english


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Mr. Daitaro Kitajima, Ms. Hiroko Urashima, Ms. Valerie Collet, Mr. Jean Claude Collet, Ms. Lei Peng.


We have many clients or visitors from oversea through the year.
Most are just visit our office and taste teas.
Some are just ready for set up photo shooting with labo wear for commercial photos like a movie and actors. (I'm not blaming!  Because they actually came to Japan and tasted all teas in our tasting room to learn what is what)

The (not English "The", it's tea in French) Cha Yuan International of France were the most respective tea company we have seen among the guests came to Japan.

Well, they have 30 years of history and superior Chinese tea and Indian tea specialits.
Finally they stepped over to Japan so we, Japanese should be proud of that we get paid attention!

They came to Tokyo from China. They have already spent a month in several tea region in China.
Reached in mid night at Tokyo airport and we fly over to Kagoshima in the next morning.

Right after we reached, we drove to very country side, Soo city to meet my partner Mr. Katsume.
He introduced us the 1st organic gyokuro garden in Kagoshima in Shibushi city.

That was a big news for me too that no one has tried organic gyokuro except Harimaen in Uji, Kyoto so far.
Mr. Katsume said this is their 1st year to harvest organic Gyokuro.
So, we just drove deeper area to see the garden in Shibushi city.

They are Sakamoto brothers, who are famous organic compost manufacturers in the area.
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The garden and the story they telling us are very interesting.

Mr. Jean Claude Collet asked so many of questions to Mr. Sakamoto and I was very happy to see his and the team's enthusiasm.

Then we went to Katsume gaeden to see rough tea manufacturing.

We had no time for breakfast and lunch this day.

Day 2.
Meet up on 6AM at lobby in the hotel and joined to tea dealer auction.
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They touched, smelled, and questioned a lot.
Japanese teas are quite complicated in small detail such as rough tea, finished tea, cultivars...but they are expert of Chinise and black teas so that they understood so quickly.

Then we moved to Kirishima mountain.
There are the biggest organic tencha garden in Japan.
Tencha is a raw material of matcha.

We got into tencha factory and see the rough tea process.
Tasting matcha.
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to be continued....

THÉ CHA YUAN INTERNATIONAL

 

Téléphone +33 4 78 42 46 14                            25, place CARNOT

Fax                 +33 4 78 37 68 64                           F-69002 LYON

                          FRANCE

                                                               

www.cha-yuan.com                                              

 

SIRET 412 278 301 000 20    RCS LYON   

TVA FR 40 412 278 301         NAF 4729Z

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Mr. Yoshiyuki Harima is one of the organic legends in green tea industry in Japan.
Uji in Kyoto is the first tea region in Japanese greee tea histroy and still leading the tea culture and industry in Japan.

His garden in Uji (Ujitawara) is deep in the mountain, about 1 hr from highway exit.
He is the first person who tried organic green tea around 1975 in Uji and also the biggest organic tea supplier in Uji.

Within my understanding, his garden: Harimaen is only the supplier who supplis pure organic matcha which is only harvested in his garden in Uji, while other matcha companies collects organic Tencha (raw leaf of matcha) from many cities such as Kagoshima, Mie, Gifu, Shizuoka whoever or wherever does stone milling. 

They have a premium cultivar, called Komakage besides popular Yabukita.
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Komakage cultivar in Gyokuro and matcha shading tent.

His another remarkable contribution to Japanese tea industry is that his garden convinced EU organic certification. They came and saw his garden and agreed for transparency of JAS Organic and EU Eco Cert.
it helped all tea gadens in Japan when we can use green leaf
imagesJAS

Anyway, his premium organic matcha (Uruoi) is great quality with vivid green and his organic Gyokuro is getting better and better each year. I'll talk about how difficult making Gyokuro in organical grown is in next time.

Organic sencha garden in the mist.

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Yabukita cultivar in organic matcha garden.
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Gyokuro in gift box.
HY40-1

Organic matcha premium (Uruoi)
Uji matcha JP2

We do Private Labeling with his matcha.
OEM-Matcha-Tin-Uji-Organic

If you are interested in their tea, visit
www.jp-greentea.co.jp/english
and contact to me!

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