Homeshop Tea Tezumi Specialty Gyokuro | Mituro Ujite

This Hand-Selected Gyokuro, Also Rare In Japan, Is Honzu-Colored For Over A Month And Then Delicately Hand-Rolled On A Charcoal-Heated Hoiro In Small Batches Of Around 700 Grams. With Its Rich Flavor And Delicate Texture, It Is A True Gem Among Uji Teas.

Honzu Shading Is The Most Traditional Shading Method. The Honzu Method, Which Dates Back At Least Over 400 Years, Uses The Same Racking System As Kanreisha, But Uses A Reed Screen Instead Of Synthetic Fabric As The First Light-Blocking Layer. Although More Labor-Intensive And Costly To Build, Reed Screens Allow More Air And Moisture To Circulate Around The Plants, Resulting In Higher-Quality, More Complex Teas. Add An Extra Layer Of Shading By Placing Straw Mats Over The Reed Screen.

Temomicha Usually Refers To The Extremely Rare Hand-Rolled Sencha. Gyokuro Seen On Hand May Be Even Rarer. Historically, All Gyokuro Was Rolled By Hand, But Mechanization Of The Sencha Rolling Process Has Allowed Farms To Produce Sencha And Gyokuro Faster And Cheaper. Hand-Rolled Noodles Might Have Disappeared If It Weren’T For Various Hand-Rolled Dough Preservation Societies That Turned This Disappearing Tradition Into An Annual Contest. Now Extremely Rare, Hand-Rolled Tea Is Made From High-Quality Tea Leaves And Processed To Perfection.

As With All Gyokuro, This Tea Is First Steamed To Inactivate Oxidative Enzymes. To Keep The Leaves Intact And Retain Their Fresh Flavor, Temika Is Steamed Very Lightly. From There, The Leaves Are Rolled Through A Multi-Stage Process Designed To Break Down The Cell Walls, Even Out The Moisture Content, Dry The Leaves, And Finally Shape Them Into Tightly Rolled Needles. All This Takes More Than Six Hours And Takes Place On A Special Table Called A Hoiro , Which Is Covered With Japanese Paper And Heated From Below With Charcoal.

The Completely Handcrafted Nature Of This Tea Is Evident In All Aspects. All Aspects Of It: Perfect Needles, Delicate “Ooika” Aroma, Intact Leaves That Unfold When Steeped, And A Deep And Complex Umami Flavour.

The City Of Uji In Kyoto Has Long Been A Center Of Tea In Japan And Has Been Renowned For Its High-Quality Matcha Production For Centuries, Dating Back To The 12Th Century. The Shading Method Used To Produce Modern Matcha , As Well As Sencha And Gyokuro Itself , Were All Invented By Uji Farmers Who Wanted To Push The Boundaries Of Tea Quality. Although The Name Ujicha Is Still Associated With High-End Tea, Most Ujicha Brands Of Tea Are Produced In Neighboring Towns Such As Ujitawara, Minamiyama Castle, Kizugawa, And Mainly Wasuke.