Tea picking
Tohei Maejima
Master Maejima
Tea master Tohei Maejima grows his tea on plantages in Okabe town, Shizuoka prefecture. His family cares for tea bussines already for three generations and Gyokuro type of tea are their specialty. Mister Maejima is a holder of many awards from tea competitions and three golden medals from World Green Tea Contest. He is over 70 yet very energetic and directs his plantage with unceasing enthusiasm.
Shaded tea
Traditional Tea Shading
Tea bushes on his garden are shaded for 30 days before picking. Mr. Maejima uses traditional rice mats „Komo“ on a part of his garden for shading. This style is nearly forgotten in Japan, since i tis expensive and laborious. Normally, bushes are shaded with black plastic foils in shape of sleeves. The way Mr. Maejima shades his tea is much more gentle to the plants. He makes the mats himself, they are placed on wooden constructions to avoid touching the plants, so they are not damadged by them. They give enough air and the leaves never become damp.
Tea Picking
Tea picking is only made by hand, which is also quite rare in Japan nowadays. The way how the pickers také the leaves is very onteresting and we never saw it anywhere else. Classic way is to simply and gently pluck the buds, this way looks more like „combing“. The hand holding the tea branch moves from middle to the top and practically sheds the leaves.
Gyokuro Okabe
Okabe Gyokuro Tohei 2018
Tea comes from a very early spring picking from surrounding of Okabe town, Shizuoka prefecture. It is a blend of three types of teabushes – Yabukita, Saemidori and Gokoh. Very long leaf shaped into even needles with dark emerald green and with very intense sweet peppery even resin aroma. Surprisingly light milky green in a cup, yet with a creamy soft flavour full of a pleasant sweet umami, resembling a nut mixture and salty haerbal seaweed, with a light pepperness and a hint of citruses (grapefruit and pomelo).
