Organic Japanese Matcha Microfarm
Our Sencha and Matcha are grown on organic microfarms surrounded by forest and sea. We harvest from Uji, Kyoto, the birthplace of Japanese tea, and Kagoshima, the most southern part of the island.
Sencha grows in direct sunlight, gaining vitamins and enjoying the sea breeze. The Tencha tea leaves, which will soon become Matcha, are carefully shaded by Oishitaen, special covering.
In early April, after the first new shoots of tea leaves emerge, the Matcha tea plantations will be completely shaded for about 20 days to block out direct sunlight.
By blocking sunlight, catechin (the astringent ingredient) is suppressed and L-theanine (the umami ingredient) is absorbed, enhancing the umami flavor profile.
Shading the tea plants from direct sunlight also gives the tea a sweet taste.
The better the tea, the more fertilizer is used, and the flavor changes.
The color also becomes more juicy (bright and dark green) due to the blocking of sunlight.