The Harashima family's Hanatsumi sencha comes from the first picking of the year in April, resulting in an extra delicate sencha. Sold as Shincha in May and June. With this top-quality sencha, one will taste the rich deep taste and high aroma of sencha which sprouted slowly over time being surrounded by the beautiful mountains of the village of Yabe (Yame, Fukuoka Prefecture). The climate of the semi-high cold region at an altitude of 600m creates a deep and fragrant taste. Please enjoy the breath of the very first picked small sprouts. This sencha can also be a perfect gift for that special someone... 

Please enjoy across multiple steeps. Because these tea leaves are high quality, after you have finished drinking the tea, the Harashima family recommends repurposing the tea leaves in your fried rice, miso soup, or however you fancy!

Product Description

• Ingredients: Green Tea
• Net weight: 100 grams, vacuum-packed original bag. 20 grams repacked on demand into Yunomi resealable bag.
• Cultivar: Blended from the best leaves in among their fields (cultivars: Saemidori, Yabukita, Okumidori, Okuyutaka)
• Harvest: April
• Region: Upper mountains of Yabe village, Yame District, Fukuoka, Japan. Altitude about 600 meters.

Steeping Notes

The steeping guidelines below are from Chiyonoen. For more steeping tips including cold steeping and ice steeping, please see Yunomi's steeping guides.

• General Steeping for 2 persons 
• Tea: 5g, Time: 60-90 seconds, Water: 80C, 160ml
• Resteep 3 times
• Note about high quality sencha: In general, this sencha is low in shibumi (bitterness) however, if you steep with hot water below 70 °C, you will be able to hold down the shibumi even more. If you are one who prefers to taste a bit more shibumi in your tea as well as the nice aroma, please utilize hot water of about 80° C. 

• Tips for a Pleasant Tea Drinking Experience
• Pour boiling water into a teacup or cup, leave it for about 2 minutes to cool around 70-80° C, and then transfer it to a kyusu (Japanese tea pot). Steep for 60 to 90 seconds and it is ready to drink! Pour up to the last drop as the last drops are where the umami resides. 
• From the 2nd steep, pour the hot water at a higher temperature than the 1st steep and steep for a shorter duration. 
• Please enjoy the tea up to the third steep.

About the Farm

Chiyonoen Tea Farm is a small tea garden operated by husband and wife farmers Masashi and Eri Harashima deep in the mountains of Yabe Village, Fukuoka, Japan. The 3rd generation farm specializes in high grade mountain-grown sencha and gyokuro. Established by his grandfather and the farm's namesake, Chiyokichi.

Learn more about Chiyonoen Tea Garden