Tsuyuhikari Sencha

The Story

This is a single cultivar sencha, Tsuyuhikari, roughly meaning "light shining through a dewdrop". It has a gentle, slightly floral aroma and deep, savory umami flavors similar to gyokuro. It makes an extremely unique and complex cup.

Konishi-san grows his tea in Kawane, Shizuoka. Kawane is a "best of the best" region for tea in Japan, so much so that sencha from Kawane is called Kawane-cha. It is home to some of the finest green tea in Japan, known for its fresh aroma, umami, and sweetness.

Konishi-san is as unique as his tea. The first time we visited him, driving through heavy typhoon rains to make it to his farm, we found ourselves deep in a mountain pass thoroughly separated from the world. He was in the fields at work, wearing a mask. "Are you worried about Covid?", I asked - "No, it's to protect my nose from pollen, my sense of smell. To see if the leaves are right".

He's received various prizes at tea competitions nationwide, but unlike his peers, he doesn't display the certificates or trophies from those prizes. He likes to specialize in unusual cultivars, and in particular, difficult cultivars that are hard to grow, ones that other farmers have given up on. When we asked him why, he told us, frankly, that it must be because he's crazy - after all, everyone else thinks so. He told us we must be crazy too, to drive out through a typhoon to see him. But he had a grin on his face.