Home Green Tea Japan Sencha

Yokozawa Sencha
Tezumi Yamakai

Name: Sencha Yokozawa Yamakai Tezumi
SKU: 0978
Price: 29.90 EUR
Availability: InStock

Contest Grade 99 P.

SKU

0978

Top-quality sencha from the prime growing region of Yokozawa in Honyama, Shizuoka. From Yoshiki Koshugi, an award-winning tea farmer. Elegant and finely bitter yamakai cultivar, hand-picked (tezumi). 40g

Details	One of Japan's most famous tea farms, in an exceptionally good terroir. Rare yamakai cultivar, which is used for expecially high-grade, elegant and finely bitter sencha. Yamakai is one of the few cultivars with a significant amount of methylated catechins.
Character	Particularly pleasant bitterness and naturalness (yamakai characteristics), lightly sweet, delicately astringent, elegant, classic, revitalising
Tea Garden	Yoshiki Kosugi 小杉佳輝, nephew of Japan's most famous sencha tea master Katsumi Tsukiji 築地勝美 (died 2014)
Terroir	Yokozawa, Honyama (region), Shizuoka (prefecture), Japan
Harvest	1st harvest (ichibancha), hand-picked in May, 2024
Cultivar	Yamakai
Elevation	300m above sea level
Steaming	Short (asamushi, 18 seconds)
Shading	No shading
Organic Cert.	None, conventional cultivation
Laboratory Tests	Radioactivity (Region 08/2018)
Awards	Recipient of various awards including the 1st place MAFF Award (Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries) and 1st place Nihoncha Award.
Grade	99/100 P. (sencha category); Contest Grade

In stock

Yoshiki Kosugi 小杉佳輝, nephew of Japan's most famous sencha tea master Katsumi Tsukiji 築地勝美 (died 2014), carries on the family tradition with great expertise. He is committed to honouring his heritage in his tea cultivation, and aims to produce the best tea in Japan by taking the utmost care in every aspect of cultivation. To that end, special attention is paid to the machine for steaming the tea, because Mr. Kosugi wants to retain the original, field-fresh taste in the tea as much as possible. For this reason, the tea is steamed only sparingly, even removing the cover of the steaming machine to ensure as gentle a steam as possible.

This tea, from a multi-award winning tea farm, won the Nihoncha Platinum Award in 2014 for “Best Aroma” in 2014. This famous tea farm has received many awards including the 1st place MAFF Award (Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries), 1st place Nihoncha Award, top 100 "Fuji No Kuni No Ocha" (Tea of the Home of Mt. Fuji) Award and Gold Medal in the Shanghai International Cultural Festival.

Flavour

The rare yamakai cultivar is the preferred choice for classic sencha with a mountain character. This cultivar originated in Shizuoka as a natural hybrid of yabukita and possesses a distinctively fine bitterness and natural quality. This briefly steamed and prize-winning sencha yamakai from Yokozawa is the tea master's favourite cultivar and tea. One of the best sencha in Japan with a classic Shizuoka character.

Leaf

Attractive, long, silky needles, deep green

Cup

Vibrant yellowish green

This famous tea farm has received many awards including the 1st place MAFF Award (Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries), 1st place Nihoncha Award, Gold Medal in the Shanghai International Cultural Festival, and top 100 "Fuji No Kuni No Ocha" (Tea of the Home of Mt. Fuji) Award.

Sencha is by far the most commonly cultivated and consumed green tea in Japan and constitutes the backbone of Japanese tea traditions. The leaves are typically steamed for 10-60 seconds, dried with hot air, churned, and via a multi-staged process rolled into flat needles. The flavour profile of sencha is very diverse and varies between sweet, fresh and grassy to robustly bitter. The region of cultivation as well as quality of the tea play a significant role in determining flavour.

We go to great lengths to identify the finest organic tea farms across the world’s most celebrated terroirs. All our teas are sourced directly from the farmer and, with a few exceptions, are certified organic or come from pesticide-free farms. Each batch of tea for every harvest is tested for pesticides and other pollutants in an independent German lab to ensure they meet our strict quality standards as well as HACCP food safety requirements. Likewise, all the regions of Japan from which we source our teas are tested for radioactivity for every harvest.

Premium Organic Teas

Our comprehensive portfolio focuses on organic, single-origin teas sourced directly from renowned farms. We believe in creating partnerships with farmers who share our values and are committed to sustainable, responsible tea cultivation. Thanks to these strong relationships our exciting range is constantly growing and evolving. As an international team of dedicated and passionate tea experts, we are committed to preserving centuries-old tea culture while ensuring it remains relevant and continues to bring joy in the present. About Yoshi En.

Cultivation & Processing

The tea field is located in a prestigious terroir in Yokozawa, Honyama. Honyama in turn is a region within Shizuoka that is famous for the cultivation of sencha. The field is nestled into the forested mountainside so that, despite the early rising sun, the sunlight only reaches the field later in the day. The copious fog in the area further contributes to an excellent bracing climate for growing rich sencha.

Single Origin

This tea is exclusively sourced from the above mentioned tea farm in Yokozawa. Sourced directly from the tea farmer.

Preparation

Brewing Guide

2 heaped tsp per 100-300ml 50-60°C water. Steep for 2 minutes. Suitable for several infusions.

Packaging

High quality, airtight, resealable standing zipper pouch with 9 protective layers to preserve flavour and protect against oxidation and contamination.

Recommended Teapot

The ideal teapot for sencha is a red tokoname kyusu with a fine ceramic sieve, which can best bring out the taste of sencha. Alternatively, a black tokoname kyusu can be used, which is a good all-rounder for preparing green teas.

Recommended Storage

Ideally store in a quality tea caddy made from cherry tree bark (wooden, kabazaiku chazutsu) or an airtight, double-coated metal tin.

Test results

We find it very important that our teas are pure and produced in a way that respects the environment. For this reason, each one of our teas is tested for pesticide residues by an independent laboratory, the results of which can be found here. Some of our teas are also tested for specific nutritional compounds, in which case the test results are also published here.

See tests

Yokozawa Sencha
Tezumi Yamakai

Tea Farm