\nNotes: Roasted. No pesticides used prior to harvest, synthetic fertilizers used.
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\nRegion: Wazuka Village, Kyoto Prefecture
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Steeping Recommendation
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Tea: 5 grams.Time: 1 min.Water: 80C/178F, 200 ml. Resteep up to 6 times.
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About the Garden
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The 4th generation Kiroku Tea Garden is in the heart of Wazuka, Kyoto prefecture, an area whose mountain tea fields and undulating terraced slopes thick with fog make perfect tea-growing conditions. Founded nearly 100 years ago, before cars and farming machinery were available, their mountain fields were cleared by hand by the Great-Grandfather of sisters Megumi and Ui Hori.
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Today, with their mother, the sisters find themselves in the unusual position of being a farm entirely owned and operated by women. After the passing of their father, the three women took over the running of the farm to continue their family’s legacy, one that began in these fields all those years ago. In the male-dominated tea agriculture and production industry, their efforts are a challenge to the status quo. At Yunomi, we are proud to support their dedication. To learn more about the Kiroku Tea Garden, please check out our interview with Ui Hori (posted April 2021).
The women of Kiroku Tea Garden began experimenting with a unique roasting of their tencha tea leaves a few years ago (in cooperation with their roasting partner in Wazuka Village), and created this unique roast—a deep, double-roasting of their single cultivar okumidori spring tencha leaves that creates a sweetness in the tea when steeped.
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Tencha is the green tea leaf used to make matcha, and okumidori cultivar spring tencha is highly sought after for matcha. Most farmers would think it a waste to roast these leaves, but in the pursuit of innovation in tea, the Hori family sets aside a small amount each year for creating this sweet roast.
\nNotes: Roasted. No pesticides used prior to harvest, synthetic fertilizers used.
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\nRegion: Wazuka Village, Kyoto Prefecture
\n
\n
\n
Steeping Recommendation
\n
Tea: 5 grams.Time: 1 min.Water: 80C/178F, 200 ml. Resteep up to 6 times.
\n
\n
About the Garden
\n
The 4th generation Kiroku Tea Garden is in the heart of Wazuka, Kyoto prefecture, an area whose mountain tea fields and undulating terraced slopes thick with fog make perfect tea-growing conditions. Founded nearly 100 years ago, before cars and farming machinery were available, their mountain fields were cleared by hand by the Great-Grandfather of sisters Megumi and Ui Hori.
\n
Today, with their mother, the sisters find themselves in the unusual position of being a farm entirely owned and operated by women. After the passing of their father, the three women took over the running of the farm to continue their family’s legacy, one that began in these fields all those years ago. In the male-dominated tea agriculture and production industry, their efforts are a challenge to the status quo. At Yunomi, we are proud to support their dedication. To learn more about the Kiroku Tea Garden, please check out our interview with Ui Hori (posted April 2021).
In tea and other very traditional industries you rarely see women in leading roles. But they do exist and this collection is meant to highlight those women who are challenging the status quo. As a criteria for inclusion, we feature products from producers where women take a visible role of leadership becoming role models for other women in this male dominated society. They are farmers, CEOs, business owners, and in some cases were women are front and center as the face of their family businesses (though their husbands and fathers might still be sitting at the head of the table, for now).
And we are just getting started! (read about why we started this effort here) We hope to add many more to this collection, so please join us as we explore great products from the women of Japan.
TIP: If you are browsing other collections, add "/womenintea" to the end of the URL to filter for products from women, or click on the "Women in Tea" box in the Notes filter.