We don't know when or if this item will be available.
“The Final Sipdown: Day 12 Decupboarding Total: 27 I’m staring to like when good teas are caught up in The Final Sipdown. It’s a nice break from teas that are still around only because I don’t like...” Read full tasting note
“very light tea, vegetal tones mixed with some nice citrus flavors. sadly, i’m almost out of this tea :(” Read full tasting note
Tea
This kamairi tea has a very strong vegetal, green tea smell. The taste is very strong and reminiscent of buttered green beans. There is a very light, almost thirst-quenching astringency and a lasting freshness.
Leaf
The dry leaf of this kamairi cha is tightly rolled and is a very dark green. Once steeped, the rolled leaves open up and become bright green and very fresh looking. The wet and dry leaves have an overhwelming fresh smell to them, reminiscent of fresh steamed vegetables.
Serving Suggestions
The farmer recommends that for an aromatic brew, use 195-200F water and steep for 45-60 seconds using 3 grams of tea for every 4oz of water. For a high-flavor brew, use 175F water and steep for 45-60 seconds using 4 grams of tea for every 4oz of water. In general using high temperature water tends to make this tea bitter and astringent quickly so be sure to adjust the leaf and water proportion to your liking.
Etymology
- kamairi means pan-fired
- aoyagi is processing method used to create the rolled leaves
About Zairai Estate Japanese Aoyagi Kamairi Cha
This tea is produced from tea plants grown from seed in Gokase town in the Miyazaki prefecture on Kyushu island. This tea is pan-fired in small batches this is unusual as most green teas from Japan are steamed and not pan-fired. Yoichi Korogi produces a small amount of this tea only for subscribed customers in Japan each year, so we are lucky to have obtained a small amount of it. This tea is 2010 Shincha (1st flush). Traditional Aoyagi style processing gives slightly more toasty and pungent aroma to the tea. The tea field’s elevation is about 600m above sea level. The morning mist and mountainous climate in this region creates a good quality tea that is known throughout Japan, but rarely makes it to the United States.
Farmer
Mr. Yoichi Korogi is a 2nd generation tea farmer in Miyazaki prefecture. He has been producing kamairi-cha his whole life and has won 15 grand prize awards in Japan’s National Tea competition in kamairi-cha category.
Chicago Tea Garden is an online tea shop committed to providing extraordinary teas and tea education to tea lovers and those new to the leaf. Chicago Tea Garden's co-owner Tony Gebely also runs the World of Tea Blog [http://www.worldoftea.org] and Tweets at @WorldofTea.
The Final Sipdown: Day 12
Decupboarding Total: 27
I’m staring to like when good teas are caught up in The Final Sipdown. It’s a nice break from teas that are still around only because I don’t like them enough to drink them up. This is one of those good teas. I’m not dying to reorder this but, depending on the state of my pantry, I can see myself picking up more of this the next time I order from CTG. It’s quite tasty and I like the variety of flavors I can get from this.
This time I went the ‘high-flavor brew’ (11.5g/12oz) and it really is flavorful. The sencha aspect is really highlighted. The pan frying gives it a nice, somewhat nutty note that makes it feel more like a fall-mood sencha instead of a spring or summer one. Perfect for today with a cold front stalking us!
