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Hashiri Shincha 2024
Kuritawase P. Free

Name: Hashiri Shincha 2024 Kuritawase
SKU: 1916
Price: 17.90 EUR
Availability: OutOfStock

Super Premium 97 P.

SKU

1916

The very first shincha of 2024. Rare Kuritawase cultivar from the southern Pacific island of Tanegashima, Japan, sourced directly from Eiichi Matsushita. Grown without plant protection products and harvested on 28/03/2024. 80g

Details	The Kuritawase cultivar is high in catechins (20%), including 0.4% EGCG3''Me and the highest GCG content (1.6%) of all green tea varieties. Native to Tanegashima, it grows early and is known for its strong umami taste.
Character	Very harmonious, distinctly bitter with a pleasant astringency (high catechin content: methylated catechins + highest GCG concentation), robust and nutrient-rich, notes of creamy spinach and walnut, full-bodied, invigorating, wonderfully vegetal
Tea Garden	Tanegashima Shoju-en, Mr. Eiichi Matsushita
Terroir	Banyamine, Tanegashima, Kagoshima, Japan
Harvest	1st harvest (ichibancha): March 28th, 2024
Cultivar	Kuritawase
Elevation	223m above sea level
Steaming	Short (asamushi, 30 seconds)
Shading	No shading necessary due to weather conditions
Organic Cert.	Cultivated without the use of plant protection products
Laboratory Tests	Radioactivity (region as of 04/2023)
Awards	Farmer awarded 2nd place in the Seicha Kyoshinkai Contest in 2008 (aracha tea category)
Grade	97/100 p. (shincha category); Super Premium

€17.90

80g

Delivery : 1–3 business days

Incl. VAT, excl. shipping

SKU

1916

€223.75 / 1kg

Back in Stock after 2025 Harvest

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Incl. VAT, excl. shipping

1916

€223.75 / 1kg

Reminder set

Mr. Eiichi Matsushita 松下栄市 is a passionate tea farmer operating the tea farm in its 4th generation. When steaming and processing the tea, Mr. Matsushita himself stands at the machine to monitor the process. The family resettled from Shizuoka to Banyamine, Tanegashima in 1909 and brought their tea-making expertise with them. Mr. Matsushita has served as the president of the Tanegashima Arasha Factory Association for 12 years. His tea fields are located in the best green tea terroir of Tanegashima.

Flavour

This vitality-rich tea from the 2024 harvest boasts a round, smooth, and harmonious flavour profile. Its buttery-soft texture and palate-pleasing umami accentuate the richness of amino acids, giving the tea a pleasantly warm character, as if it had soaked up the sun-drenched spring breeze from Tanegashima. Aromatically, it offers subtle hints of creamed spinach and walnut, with grassy freshness and spring-like, sunny kiwi green notes becoming more prominent in subsequent infusions. The elegant bitterness and gentle astringency strike a harmonious contrast, allowing the special catechin richness of the Kuritawase cultivar to shine through on the palate. For optimal enjoyment, we recommend brewing this freshly harvested shincha at least four times to fully savour the tea, both in terms of flavour and its richness in vital substances.

Leaf

Robust, dark green needles

Cup

Deep green yellow

Shincha, which translates from Japanese as "new tea", marks the start of the tea season in Japan and is eagerly awaited every year. For the Japanese tea world, it is considered the highest quality tea of the current season and embodies the perfect freshness of Japanese green teas thanks to its extensive aroma spectrum. Only the tea buds and young leaves, the first shoots of spring, are harvested. Their wealth of valuable nutrients is decisive for the unmistakable freshness and strength that makes shincha so exceptional. Small harvest quantities and high demand make this special first harvest a highly limited, seasonal tea.

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, 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 farm is located in the north of the picturesque Tanegashima Island, about 115km south of Kagoshima City. The warm, subtropical climate and the fresh sea breeze, which carries minerals and morning fog to the farm, ensure an ideal climate for the cultivation of early growing shincha cultivars. The tea field is perched at 223m elevation in the highest part of Banyamine, which is considered the top terroir on Tanegashima.

The tea farmer uses as few pesticides as possible. For the 1st and 2nd harvests (ichibancha and nibancha), no pesticides are used. The tea is only briefly steamed (asamushi) to best bring out the refreshing and slightly milky-sweet flavour of the tea.

Single Origin

This tea is sourced exclusively from the above-mentioned tea plantation in Tanegashima and is purchased directly from the farmer.

Preparation

Brewing Guide

2 heaped teaspoons per 100–300ml water (55–60°C). Steep for 2 minutes.

1. 60°C, 120 sec.

2. 70°C, 20 sec.

3. 75°C, 20 sec.

4. 75°C, 15 sec.

5. 85°C, 20 sec.

Packaging

Packaged specially for us in high-quality, airtight, resealable standing zipper pouches at the farm.

Recommended Teapot

To emphasize the beautiful balance of umami, freshness and bitterness of this fine shincha, we recommend a black Tokoname kyusu which leaves the flavour relatively neutral and thereby brings out the character of the tea. Another good choice is a Banko kyusu with its typical metallic, violet-brown colour, enhancing the umami flavour of the tea.

Recommended Storage

A high-quality tea caddy made of cherry bark (solid wood, kabazaiku chazutsu) is ideal, though any airtight tea caddy with internal coating will suffice.

Awards

The tea farmer won 2nd place in the regional Seicha Kyoshinkai Contest in 2008 for his aracha tea.

Test results

The purity of our formulas is important to us. This is why we have both our raw ingredients as well as our finished products extensively tested by independent laboratories to confirm purity and active ingredient content. Here, we have provided the results of some of the tests carried out on this product.