Aracha refers to the freshly produced tea on the same day when it is plucked. Aracha means crude tea in English. It is the same meaning as “Mao Cha” in Chinese.

As a common practice, aracha is sent for further refining and firing process. For common Japanese green tea, people believe that aracha has less taste if no firing is conducted. However, from my point of view, firing the tea is a very strange practice. I have travelled many places including China, Taiwan and India. For good tea, people should rather try not to fire the tea and preserve its original character as much as they can. Even Long Jing or many other Chinese green teas, the higher the quality, the lighter the firing.

Usually, tea that is produced with a lot of fertilizers gives very light taste. It is the same like fruit or vegetable that is grown with fertilizers. Since the taste of tea is very light, firing the tea becomes a standard practice. Amino acid will undergoes the Maillard reaction and produces the typical flavor. This is the same mechanism as how hot cake produces its flavor during baking. However, recently the firing is a little too much and it really destroys the original character of tea. Nevertheless, no firing will make tea has very less character and weak aroma.

On the other hand, the naturally-grown tea gives an overwhelming sweetness and thick flowery flavor, thanks to rich content of polyphenols and minerals. In fact, if tea is naturally-grown, it is the best to enjoy the aracha. It is exceptionally smooth, deeply satisfying, and full-bodied. The farmer also knew it very well. Therefore, they drink aracha and they keep the processed tea only as the gift for others. We absolutely feel that aracha is much nicer to drink even for our own. Thus, we decided to introduce aracha that is not fired at all. I think it is extremely rare in the market.

The Uji Sencha Jubuzan is completely an aracha. We only remove the dust and foreign object and then reduce the moisture content. This is the crude taste of tea that is freshly processed from a tea factory. If you have a chance to visit a tea factory and taste the fresh tea directly collected in the middle of the process, this is the flavor and taste you will enjoy.

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