20% off promotional offer as this is the welcome tea we serve in the teahouse throughtout March.

Kamairicha and Kourogi san Background Information:
Kamairicha is pan fried tea, not steamed at all unlike most Japanese tea. Even houjicha, roasted tea, is usually roasted from a steamed tea. Pan frying and steaming are two methods used to halt oxidisation/wilting of the tea leaves after harvest, as the high temperatures stop enzymes from breaking down the leaves. Kamairicha is not a tea that is known for umami flavour, and that is because of the processing technique of pan frying rather than steaming. Instead, you can expect fresh and floral flavours depending on the cultivar, and to extract the flavours well temperatures of 90-100 degrees are often used. The higher temperature can bring out some pleasant astringency, while using lower temperatures of 70-80 degrees taste somewhat empty in comparison. Kourogi san himself uses water just off the boil (he uses the sound of the water to know when its ready, not a thermometer!).

Kyushu is a region famous for kamairicha production, especially Miyazaki prefecture. Kourogi san is based in Gokase, Miyazaki. He is an incredibly well respected tea farmer and producer who has specialised in organic growing for over 20 years, and a household name associated with pan fried tea for those in the industry! He has won the prestigious Ministry of Agriculture, Foresty, and Fisheries award countless times. Before training people to use machinery to pan fry tea, he always teaches them to do it by hand first, to fully understand the process. Kourogi san is also is contracted to grow tea in Hokkaido - the most northern part of Japan - which must be very difficult due to the cold climate!

Notes For This Particular Tea:
Unkai is a Miyazaki native cultivar that is incredibly rare. We find the flavour profile to be somewhat reminiscent of an ichou sencha such as those by Okutomi san in Sayama, which is interesting due to how different the processing methods are. Expect bursts of smooth, fresh, florality.