Azuma Tea Garden: Kyoto Tencha Yabukita, Green Tea

Tencha is the ingredient used to make matcha. It consists of leaves that have been shaded usually about 4 weeks prior to harvest, and that have been steamed and dried without rolling into the needle shape you see with other types of green tea from Japan. The rolling process breaks down cell membranes in the leaf releasing different flavor compounds, and tencha skips this process offering, in leaf form, a light, sweet tea.

Before grinding into matcha, the unrefined (aracha) tencha leaves are sifted to remove dust and leaf stems, then are chopped to create more even flakes. It is this state that provided in this product.

We recommend you trying it with its matcha counterpart!

Product Info

• Name: Tencha Yabukita, Green Tea
• Ingredients: Green Tea
• Producer: Azuma Chaen
• Location: 125- 1 Miyano Monzen, Wazuka-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto 619-1204, JAPAN
• More Info: More info available here
• Cultivar: Yabukita (Yabukita Matcha counterpart). Identified in 1908 by Sugiyama Hikosaburo in Shizuoka, and officially registered in 1953, the yabukita cultivar is the most common tea plant cultivar in Japan with an approximately 80% share. The rich flavor of the leaves makes it popular for sencha, but it provides a weaker umami taste and is not usually used for matcha as a result.
• Region: Wazuka, Kyoto
• Cultivation & Processing notes
• Shaded about 4 weeks before harvest
• Harvest Season: Spring
• Steamed and dried without rolling
• Refined to remove stems & dust
• Vendor type: Family-owned tea farm