- style: Asamushi
- Cultivar: Yabukita
What would it be like to drink tea of your own making?
Not many people are lucky enough to have a tea plantation, but we're going to give you the opportunity to make your own tea.
The tea leaves are lovingly and carefully grown by the renowned "Gyokuro Guru" Master Sakamoto, at his naturally run tea plantation in Shibushi, Kagoshima. He then processed them into aracha and sent them to us... and we decided to give you the opportunity to experience the final processing for yourself. Of course, you can taste the aracha unprocessed, as is done in Japan to determine quality, but we highly recommend trying the shiage.
So what will you need?
- A fine large sieve
- A larger bowl
- A good pan that heats evenly.
What is the procedure?
When the final processing of the shiage has been brushed "to the marrow" we are left with the two most important steps:
Sorting - the goal of this step, is to separate the different parts of the tea.
Place the sieve over a bowl, pour the aracha into the sieve and start with a light shaking. The darker leaves will fall into the bowl below, while the lighter green stalks will remain in the sieve. Gradually, you will see the dark leaves accumulate in the bowl below and the stems will remain in the sieve.
Hire - Roasting - the aim is to emphasise the aroma of the tea and fix it
Turn on the flame or set the stove to low power and place the well-washed pan on it. Make sure it is completely dry before you start.
Spread the contents of the sieve (light green stems and stalk with a mixture of leaves, depending on how diligently you have sorted) into the pan. Heat the pan, shaking or stirring as necessary. Within moments, the heated tea leaves will begin to give off a wonderful aroma. Watch the leaves and stems closely for colour changes, as colour along with aroma is the best indicator of when to stop the process. For stems and stalks, I prefer a higher roasting level ("to houjicha.") Once you are satisfied with the result, dump the leaves from the pan into another container and let cool.
Thoroughly wipe the tea dust residue from the pan with a napkin and start the process a second time, this time with the dark leaves. Here I recommend a more gentle roasting method, so called "stop in time". Once you are satisfied, pour the still warm leaves back into the bag and seal it.
Maturing - Gyokuro needs time to develop its full flavour.
However, it is certainly not a bad idea to taste the resulting tea (1-2g per shiboridashi) and then set it aside and return to it in 3 days, a week, 14 days and it should reach full maturity after a month of hiire.
In the words of Master Sakamoto "いよいよドラマの始まりです"