Collection: Shirakawa-cha Traditional Flavor KAORU : Weak and Light Fermented Green Tea

- Shirakawa-cha KAORU - 

Shirakawa-cha Traditional Flavor, weak, light fermented green tea (Ichou Sencha: 萎凋煎茶)

Sencha "Kaoru" was developed by 17 tea masters and ten tea factories together over three years to preserve a 450-year history, traditional skill, and deep flavor of Shirakawa-Cha. "Kaoru" mixes traditional and modern tastes and has become popular as a local specialty.

How "Kaoru" was born.

How does tea nowadays become different from the past?

One of the answers is "scent." In the past, the tea factories and their surroundings were filled with the scent of tea. But it isn't so anymore.

They reviewed all tea processes and realized the weak and light fermented process was missing.

At present, the picked tea leaves are immediately processed by machinery not to spoil the flavor, as freshness is essential for Sencha to maintain its fresh scent.

In the past, the farmers spread the picked tea leaves on the floor of the farmhouses, then sorted and brought to the tea factory. Small factories sometimes took a day to get to the processing stage, so they fermented slightly and got their distinctive scent.

For this reason, they spread out tea leaves indoors for a while to get them slightly fermented by internal oxidase and to develop its flavor. They turn the tea leaves over, checking its development for about 15 hours. (This process is called Ichou in Japanese.)

It is a long process, which requires time and effort, but this is how the distinct scent of "Kaoru" was born.