Shincha Yamakai B Shizuoka 20g

1:24 Shibo
70c 60s
70c 15s
75c 25s

1:24 Kyusu
65c 60s
65c 15s
65c 25s

Yamakai B is a tea that's incredibly easy to perfect, even on the first try. Its sweet, berry-like notes and bright profile come through with no astringency, making it mellow, easy, and pleasant. The long, satisfying aftertaste is round and delightful. Interestingly, it was only after savoring this tea that I discovered it’s organic, adding to its excellence.

Sharing the same terroir as Yamakai A, you can sense the resemblance after a few tries. Yamakai B, however, is more welcoming and open, whereas Yamakai A is a bit more particular.

TDJ Product Description

[Grown without pesticide]
Berries, fruity
Umami★★☆☆ / Astringency★☆☆☆
Body★★☆☆ / Firing★★★☆

Hon.yama refers to the mountainous area to the north of Shizuoka City on the banks of the Abe River. In Ushizuma, Seiji Shigeta grows rice, but also, and above all, tea with neither chemical fertlizer nor pesticide.

For him, an "ecological conscience" is not just a commercial selling point, but means careful work to obtain high-quality tea with rich taste and full fragrance. Of course, his tea is steamed in the traditional manner so that the final product is beautiful leaves that are mostly unbroken.

This is a sencha made from the Yamakai cultivar, renowned for its strength and high quality, but also notorious for being difficult to work with.

This sencha is deliciously scented with rustic, sweet fragrances, very dense but very natural. There are no artificial flavourings here.

Prepared a little on the strong side, the liquor also reveals great density, depth with natural scents, mellowness delicately offset by a note of light astringency. All of these fragrances create a delicious sweet length in the mouth that continues to delight the tastebuds long after the tea has been drunk.

Type of tea: Futsumushi (normal-steamed) sencha (pesticide free)
Origin: Ushizuma, Aoi Borough, Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture
Cultivar: Yamakai
Harvest: April 22th, 2024