World renowned farmer Kiyoharu Tsuji’s tencha (the green tea used for matcha) has won numerous awards at the Kyoto, West Japan (Kansai), and National levels. A careful selection and processing of this Asahi cultivar is generally used for these competitions.

• Cultivation: Cultivated using centuries-old traditional methods including shading under a canopy of reeds and straw adjusted according to the sunlight and increasing until 95% of sunlight is cut. Tsuji-san also conducts soil analysis monthly and analysis of amino acid content in the leaf (which forms the umami flavor) annually to craft the best leaf year after year.
• Harvest: May. Carefully handpicked for maximum quality.
• Processing: Steamed and dried in a traditional tencha oven. Carefully refined — removing stems, veins — before stone mill grinding.
• Grinding: See variant info
• Packaging: Yunomi pull-top can and inner bag. 
• Net weight: 20g
• Region: Uji, Kyoto

About the Farmer

Tsuji-sensei, a fifth generation tea farmer, is one of Japan’s top cultivators and producers of tencha, and his Asahi cultivar tea field has helped him win dozens awards over the years at the regional and national level. The accumulation of accolades have led to the prestigious Prime Minister’s Award for agriculture in 2017.

To view more photos of the cultivation process, see Tsuji-sensei's Facebook page.