Characteristics of Theanine Tea
Single Origin
Single farm tea delivered to you.
Direct from the farmer
We contract directly with the farmer.
The taste and flavor of tea varies depending on the land and the variety, even when grown in the same tea garden, the taste changes every year. We want you to enjoy the taste of the tea including these differences. Many teas are blended to achieve a uniform taste, but Theanine insists on single-origin teas, and we want our customers to be able to tell the difference in taste.
Our Organic Japanese Green Tea – Powder
■ matcha
A) Supplying high quality organic matcha harvested in the UJI area. Almost no organic matcha is harvested in the UJI area, less than 1% of all matcha in the UJI area is organic.
B) Supplying matcha categorized to 3 occasions such as Premium, Ceremonial and Sweets Ingredients .
• Premium
• Ceremonial
• Sweets Ingredients
■ matcha and other green tea
A) We conduct direct business with farmers and can provide a traceability for all of our green teas
B) Supplying high quality Japanese green tea at a reasonable price
C) Supplying Japanese green teas sealed with the official “JAS” organic mark
D) We concentrate on Uji tea in the southern part of Kyoto Prefecture
Our Organic Japanese Green Tea – Leaf / Stem
Grade Factors of Japanese Green Tea
A) Organic green tea
Organic green tea yields a smaller harvest because there is no use of synthetic fertilizers causing artificial growth.
Insects cannot be killed with chemical or medicines which additionally increases labor .
B)How many times for harvest of green tea leaves during one year :
Once / twice / 3 times / 4 times annually (fewer harvests produce a higher grade – because farmers concentrate all nutrients to leaves of a one time annual pick. However this is inefficient – harvest).
C)How many times for harvest of green tea leaves during one year : What number for picking green tea leaves in a year :
Generally green tea leaves in Japan are picked from 1 to 4 times in a year at harvest (from May to Sept.). Earlier picked leaves contain enough Theanine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theanine) to make a tasty green tea leaf. On the other hand, a later-picked leaf makes less Theanine.
D) When picking (harvesting) green tea leaves :
Later harvest makes bigger green tea leaves and increases the harvest amount. However, this restricts the nutrients spread to whole green tea leaves. This causes insufficient taste. Harvesting the leaves at the proper time produces a higher quality tea.
E) Farm location :
There are many farm areas for green tea in Japan. Of these farm areas,
around the UJI area in Kyoto is historically considered the best. (You can see
the reasons in page 3 and 4.)
F) Kinds of tea trees for Japanese green tea
: The best variety specializing for each Japanese green tea:
a.Tencha (for matcha)
– Oku Midori
– Sayama Kaori
– Gokou
b.Gyokuro
– Sae Midori
c.Sencha
– Yabukita
Aiming to be the “Single Origin” of Matcha
Matcha made by an “Emperor’s Cup” winner is unique, and we are confident that it will make a great gift for someone special. This matcha has no bitterness and a delicious aftertaste that will make you say, “I want to have another cup.”
Theanine’s Matcha Comparison
The Best Time to Drink Matcha
Matcha can be drunk at any time of the year.
After summer, as autumn arrives the taste matures and becomes even more delicious.
We grind only the required amount of matcha for a year to deliver fresh matcha to you.
Matcha is best stored in the refrigerator or freezer to maintain its flavor.
UJI – Kyoto /The most famous place for Japanese green tea
TeaInformation
A) An historical viewpoint
■ Manufacturing of Japanese green tea begins from the 13th century
■ Originally developed cultivation by way of “covering method” for keeping the sun off has been utilized from the end of the16th century. This method produced fresh tea leaves with a deep green color. Japanese green tea from UJI was evaluated at the highest rank in taste and aroma. Matcha green tea continues to be produced using this method.
■ Sen no Rikyū (1522 – 1591), who was known simply as Rikyū and the most famous master of tea ceremony, had a priority to use Japanese green tea manufactured in the UJI area. Because he knew Japanese green tea manufactured in UJI was of the highest quality. Also Rikyū built a tea room of “Myokian” which is currently designated as a National Treasure at Oosaki (near UJI) in Kyoto. Since then, many tea rooms and gardens have been valued as cultural properties. The three most famous “sen” from this area are:
■ Omote Sen-ke, Ura Sen-ke, Mushanokoji Sen-ke
■ Early 17th century – the Shogun (the top title of the military/political dictators) Iemitsu Tokugawa (1604 – 1651) ordered the UJI-Kanbayashi family, the best manufacturer of Japanese green tea, to manufacture high-quality Japanese green tea and enforced a system to deliver the earliest harvest to his castle located in Edo (nowadays Tokyo). This system continued for approximately 250 years. Many manufacturers in UJI engaged in this system supplying the best Japanese green tea to Edo and continued to develop Japanese green tea for a long time.
B) From the view of a climatic factor and its special geographical location
■The UJI area is a basin surrounded by mountains in all directions and has a big river.
■Therefore:
1. Enough annual rainfall to provide ample pure water
2. Frequent fog which properly keeps moisture due to large temperature differences between day and night
3. Fertile (especially containing magnesium) carried together with rain water from the mountains
4. Well-drained soil land moving to easily pure water (with magnesium)
It is said from several hundred years ago that the best location that satisfied the conditions above is Uji, Kyoto. Uji, Kyoto keeps traditional cultivation at optimum conditions for green tea and is continuously nowadays growing green tea in high quality.