We don't know when or if this item will be available.
“I’m being too lazy to create another page. I am drinking this same one but it is through a hotel here in Japan. The dry leaf is very nice. Warm umami notes along with slight touches of veggies and...” Read full tasting note
“First ever tamaryokucha style green tea, and I believe it’s 2023 shincha, courtesy of Thés du Japon. Thank you! This morning’s cups were damn near perfect. Half the sample – 4g – went into the...” Read full tasting note
beans, Sweet cooked vegetables
Umami★★★☆ / Astringency☆☆☆☆
Body★★☆☆ / Firing★★☆☆
Higashi-Sonogi is the town where most tea is produced in Nagasaki Prefecture, and almost all of Higashi-Sonomi’s tea is tamaryokucha (steamed), also known as guri-cha. Its development dates back to the 1950s, when tea from Sonogi was used to support tea production in Ureshino, located just on the other side of the mountains, in Saga Prefecture. In Ureshino, the volume produced is small, but of long date, even though Sonogi, overlooking the Bay of Ômura, enjoys a gentler climate, with earlier harvests. Still today, Sonogi tea is often sold as Ureshino tea.
Mr. Matsuo is one of the most renowned producers in the region, and has won a number of awards. He produces modern, shaded, rather deep-steamed tamaryokuchas.
Here is a tamaryokucha made from the famous Asatsuyu cultivar. This variety is known for its special vegetal fragrances, which bring to mind green beans. Unlike sencha, tamaryokucha does not go through the last part of the rolling process. Instead, it is subjected to two phases of drying without rolling, which results in aromas that are less fresh and stimulating, but warmer and rounder. The beany scent of Asatsuyu is clearly present here. At first it can seem hidden by the warm, sweet fragrances, that is, until the rather strong umami arrives on the palate, along with the vegetal aromas resulting in part from the characteristics of the cultivar but also from the light hi-ire roasting that Thés du Japon has requested for this tea.
This tea is not astringent at all, and it is very fluid despite being deep steamed. It is a velvety, rather light tea given the steaming, and has the characteristics of both the Asatsuyu variety and tamaryokucha.
Type of tea : mushisei tamaryokucha
Origin : Hitotsuishi-gô, Higashi-Sonogi municipality, Higashi-Sonogi District, Nagasaki Prefecture
Cultivar : Asatusyu
Shading: 9 days (direct covering)
Harvest : April 17th, 2023
Brewing suggestion
Quantity of leaves: 4g / 1.2 tsp Quantity of water : 70ml / 1/4 cup Water temperature : 80°C / 176°F Brewing time : 50sTamaryoku-cha from Ureshino
Thés du JaponSencha from Sayama, Fukumidori cultivar
Thés du JaponSencha from Hon.yama, Benifûki cultivar
Thés du JaponSencha from Asamiya, Yamakai cultivar
Thés du JaponSencha from Fuji, Sôfû cultivar
Thés du JaponKabuse-cha from Uji, Samidori cultivar
Thés du JaponI’m being too lazy to create another page. I am drinking this same one but it is through a hotel here in Japan. The dry leaf is very nice. Warm umami notes along with slight touches of veggies and grass. But the wet leaf is even more delectable to my nose. Slight warn umami with hints of cream, sweet grass, and asparagus. If anyone is watching me sniff this tea bag they probably have a real amusing look on their face. The liquor full of umami and hints of veggies and grass. The mouth feel is silky.
First ever tamaryokucha style green tea, and I believe it’s 2023 shincha, courtesy of Thés du Japon. Thank you!
This morning’s cups were damn near perfect. Half the sample – 4g – went into the steeper basket with cooled water from the work dispenser, steeped for maybe a minute. White beany and vegetal, full-bodied and round with sweet umami, not a lick of bitterness or astringency. Refreshing and engaging but mellow. Second much like the first. Third steep, brewed without cooling the water, was dark and cloudy; it tasted like the smell of the clumps of young, wet grass that stick to the bottom of the lawnmower. Wow, those were some great cups of tea. I have the rest of the sample set aside for brewing in a small pot.
Like gyokuro-lite. I dig this much more than gyokuro. More balanced.
Flavors: Beans, Freshly Cut Grass, Round, Sweet, Umami, Vegetables, Vegetal
