Kabusecha Okumidori

From the fields of family-operated tea farm, Tomizawa Tea Garden, a shincha shaded for about 2 weeks before early May harvest (making it a kabusecha). The Okumidori tea cultivar has been quite popular in recent years for its strong natural umami flavor (enhanced by the shading) and deep green color.

As a steamed tamaryokucha (or guricha), the leaves are not rolled into straight needles as you would see with sencha, but rather left slightly curled by skipping the last rolling step. 

Producer: Tomizawa Tea Garden

Established: 1928

Region: Mashiki, Kumamoto

Harvest Season:  Early May

Steaming: Slightly longer than regular steaming but retains shape well, so not quite fukamushi (deep steamed)

Picking: Hand Picked

The Tomizawa Tea Garden has over 85 years of tea farming history in Kumamoto Prefecture, and have received many famous tea awards in Japan. The family grows tea with a lot of sunlight and Kumamoto’s natural ground water famous for its clean and beautiful taste.

In April 2016, Mashiki, Kumamoto Prefecture affected by the Kumamoto Earthquakes with main shock at magnitude 7.0. The earthquakes have resulted in 48 deaths, 3000 injuries, and nearly 200,000 people evacuated to shelters in the aftermath.

Tomizawa Tea garden also had been affected by this earthquake losing their tea shop. However, they used this opportunity to rebuild their shop in 2018, calling it the Greentea.Lab.