Organic Makurazaki Black Tea Hatsumomiji

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A premium quality 100% handpicked first flush organic japanese black tea cultivated by a very long established, award winning, organic black tea grower in the famed black tea production area known as Makurazaki which is in Kagoshima prefecture! Made from the tea bush variety known as “Hatsumomiji” which was bred in Japan for black tea. An organic koucha with a unique cacao-like taste & aroma, rich bittersweet mouthfeel, and a lovely clean aftertaste. JAS certified LIMITED organic koucha and one not to miss!

100% HANDPICKED

(Handpicked = Tezumi in Japanese)
Although most tea in Japan is harvested by machines, the cultivators of this organic black tea choose to pick all leaves by hand. All leaves are checked for quality by eye and with their fingertips as they pluck them. The annual yield of the farm is therefore quite low meaning that each black tea is limited, but is ultimately superior in quality.

MAKURAZAKI JAPANESE BLACK TEA

If you know your time-line on Japanese black tea, you’ll know that Makurazaki in Kagoshima prefecture was one of the main cultivation regions of high quality black tea in Japan in the 1960s. Unfortunately, restrictions on black tea imports were lifted in Japan in 1971 which led to a mass of cheap low quality import black tea entering the Japanese black tea market, already sensing what was going to happen, most black tea farmers in Japan at that time swiftly switched over to producing green tea leaving the Japanese domestic black tea market to slowly dwindled away. Thankfully, for a few Japanese black tea farmers, that didn’t stop their passion and desire to cultivate black tea in Makurazaki because they knew they were making black tea with a very special taste (The double awarding winning Hime Fuki Japanese black tea is evidence of that)! Therefore, still today there are black tea farmers, including some of the older original farmers, that are still cultivating and innovating the production of high quality organic black tea in the region! It is due to their efforts that it remains possible to enjoy the high quality taste of organic Makurazaki black tea!

Origin Makurazaki, Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan
Organic Certification(s) JAS
Harvest Date May 2011
Harvest Period Spring (100% First Flush)
Harvest Method Tezumi (Hand-picked)
Varietal(s) 100% Hatsumomiji