Shizuoka is home to some of the most highly awarded green teas in the world and its chagusaba system of growing tea has been recognised as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System since 2013. The tea plantation method is known in English as the Traditional Tea-grass Integrated System and is a long-practised agricultural technique that involves grasses such as Japanese silver grass and sasa broadleaf bamboo being cut and spread on the furrows of tea fields from autumn to winter. This preserves biodiversity and improves the soil environment by increasing the effectiveness of fertilizer, controlling weeds, and enhancing the soil’s ability to retain water, which in turn improves the flavour and aroma of tea.
This Oguri Farm Organic Green Tea Makinohara is cultivated using the chagusaba method on the Makinohara Plateau in Shizuoka. The tea consisted of loose-leaf sencha.
Steeping 3 g of loose-leaf in 200 mL of water at 75°C for 30 seconds, the tea was a semi-transparent yellow-jade colour and a mellow seaweed aroma. Consumed hot, the tea has a natural and gentle sweetness coming through at the head of each sip before rich seaweed undertones emerged in the body ahead of mild grassy vegetal notes in the finish. The tea has a warm, smooth mouthfeel with a richer, more complex flavour that celebrates the natural sweetness of the tea as well as its more marine and vegetal notes with almost no astringency. It’s relaxing and enjoyable to drink.
This Oguri Farm Organic Green Tea Makinohara contained 50 g. It was produced in Japan and received as a gift from a family friend visiting Japan in 2018.