Do you know Kuradashi Gyokuro? In contrast to Sencha, which is enjoyed
for its refreshing aroma immediately after being harvested, Gyokuro also
gains an enriched flavor and deep noble aroma and sweetness over time,
and so is best some months after harvest. A long time ago, people celebrated
aged Gyokuro as the Shincha of Gyokuro in autumn. It was called Kuradashi
Gyokuro meaning Gyokuro taken out from the granary.
Today's Gyokuro lovers favor both fresh Gyokuro and enriched Kuradashi Gyokuro. It just depends on each person's individual taste and preference to know which kind will be their favorite. However, it is more and more difficult to find real enriched Kuradashi Gyokuro even in Japan. It is not easy to enrich and sweeten Gyokuro. If one doesn't keep a close watch over their Gyokuro, it will easily deteriorate. Like a fine wine, aged Gyokuro can easily pass from a state of being deliciously enriched to a state of being deteriorated.
Besides, all Gyokuro does not gain an enriched flavor but only specific kinds of Gyokuro. It depends on some factors, such as the breed of tea leaves, how the sunlight is shaded, management of fertilizer and nutrients, the processing procedure, and so on.
Therefore many wholesalers and retailers these days are not willing to accept risks in order to enrich Gyokuro.
Since we at Hibiki-an, understand the traditional way of aging Gyokuro properly, we are happy to be able to provide you with Kuradashi Gyokuro. We would like Gyokuro lovers around the world to be able to experience the remarkable and noble enriched and sweetened flavor and aroma of true Kuradashi Gyokuro.
Kuradashi Gyokuro is different from ordinary Gyokuro in aroma and flavor, so it may be enjoyable for you to compare this tea with regular Gyokuro. The superb enriched and sweetened flavor and aroma of this special tea lingers in the mouth for a while. The aroma is full, but not too strong. The flavor is richer and subtle. The taste is both mellow and enhanced.
Kuradashi Gyokuro can best be described in the same way a fine wine is
described and enjoyed by connoisseurs. Like Pinot Noir red wine, Kuradashi
Gyokuro is amazingly full flavored with hints of woody spices, sweet fruits,
and nuts, as well as oak, earth, leaves, and grass. It is difficult
to describe this remarkably delicious tea and just must be experienced
firsthand!
Harvest in May
Enriched by the traditional way
Tasting
(visit to Gyokuro shopping category)
Though today some Gyokuro lovers enjoy newly harvested Gyokuro, it is the
traditional wisdom that Matcha and Gyokuro generally gain an enriched flavor
and sweetness over time, and are best some months after harvest.
In the Japanese tea ceremony, even today people celebrate aged Matcha in
the ceremony called Kuchikiri no Gi every autumn. Kuchikiri no Gi means
the ceremony of opening a special jar of tea. Matcha and Gyokuro used to
be placed in a tea jar. This tea jar was then sealed and stored in a cool
place like the top of a high mountain or in the ground after harvest until
autumn. People would first enjoy that year's Matcha and Gyokuro in the
autumn after the Kuchikiri no Gi ceremony. And it was said that when the
jar lid first opened in autumn, the marvelous fragrant smell was savored.
It was said that the smell was so amazing that there were no words to describe
it, and it had to be experienced firsthand.
Today the Kuchikiri no Gi ceremony is still held by the local tea industry and a school of Teaism at Kosho Temple in Uji on the first Sunday of October every year in order to honor the forerunners who contributed to developing Japanese tea culture.
The ceremony is thus followed:
- Water is gathered by ladle from the river at Uji Bridge in the way of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, kanpaku (powerful ruler) in Japan, who supported Rikyu Sen to indurate Teaism. He always used the water from Uji Bridge every day in order to prepare his Matcha.
- The water is solemnly and mindfully carried to Kosho Temple.
- The tea jar which was filled with tea leaves and sealed in the harvest season is opened according to traditional procedure.
- Matcha is prepared by the present head of the school of Teaism.
- A bowl of Matcha is offered before the tablet of the ancestors who contributed to developing Japanese tea culture.
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Kosho Temple
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The tea jar |
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Carryging the water gathered from the river at Uji Bridge
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Water gathered from the Uji river
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Opening the tea jar
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| Grinding tencha into matcha |
Prepared matcha by the present head of the school of Teaism
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Offered matcha before the tablet of the ancestors |
(visit to Gyokuro shopping category)
It has been said since olden days that fine Gyokuro and Matcha gain an
enriched flavor and deep noble aroma and sweetness over time, and so are
best some months and up to two years after harvest. Not all green tea is
suitable for this process, and only certain types of high-quality Uji tea
produce the finest Kuradashi Gyokuro.
From a scientific standpoint, Japanese tea does not age in the same way as fine wine, and of course it does not become alcoholic. However, it is an indisputable fact that certain Japanese tea, specific breeds of high-quality Uji tea, gain an enriched flavor by a special traditional aging process.
We would like to explain more about Kuradashi Gyokuro. What flavor is created? What type of Japanese tea gains the flavor? And what is the aging procedure?
The features of green tea enriched and aged in good condition are:
- Deepened and gained smoothness and sweetness of flavor.
- Created and gained subtle enriched and noble aroma.
- Softened and rounded refreshing aroma, in contrast to Shincha's usual brisk and refreshing aroma.
All tea does not gain the enriched flavor. Only tea leaves which meet the following criteria can possibly gain an enriched flavor:
- Fresh, high-quality, and smooth-tasting tea leaves harvested at well-managed tea farms.
- Tea grown carefully in the shade by "Tana" (not "Jikagise").
- At processing, the tea must not be heavily steamed. However, farmers tend to steam tea leaves for Gyokuro more heavily to produce tea with a deep, smooth taste and vivid green color. Such Gyokuro can not be aged well.
Tea leaves meeting the above criteria are just a small portion of the highest quality tea leaves harvested in Uji, Kyoto. Tea leaves that do not meet these criteria just deteriorate when aged.
However, even with the correct type of tea leaves, it is not an easy task to properly age green tea.
Tea leaves are usually packaged in aluminum foil bags filled with nitrogen in order to keep fresh flavor through the year. And they are stored in a special refrigerator.
To create Kuradashi Gyokuro, the green tea must be allowed to "breathe". Over a period of time, the oxygen has an effect on the green tea which creates the enriched flavor. If the tea is aged by an inappropriate procedure or inappropriate type tea is aged, it will simply deteriorate.
In order to age and enrich well, tea leaves need air, oxygen. Though we
put tea leaves in a foil bag, we don't seal the bag. The tea is carefully
placed in a traditional wooden box (like below picture) in the special
refrigerator. To enrich, the temperature in the refrigerator also should
not be too cold. The air circulates in the bag, wooden box, and the refrigerator,
allowing a flow of oxygen to constantly mix with the tea. In this way,
the tea leaves are allowed to breathe over time.
However, because the bag is not sealed, and the temperature in the refrigerator is not so cold, tea leaves can easily deteriorate by absorbing moisture or odor. Therefore we always pay the closest attention to the tea leaves to ensure their perfection.
As above, it is not easy to enrich Gyokuro well, so many wholesalers and retailers these days are not willing to accept risks in order to enrich Gyokuro. However, the enriched flavor and subtle noble aroma and sweetness of Kuradashi Gyokuro are more than someone can dream. Would you enjoy it once?
(visit to Gyokuro shopping category)
Tea leaves for Gyokuro and Matcha are grown in the shade for 20 to 30 days before harvest. There are two ways of creating shade for growing tea trees. One of them is "Tana" and the other is "Jikagise". "Jikagise" is when the tea trees are covered directly. "Tana" is not covering the tea tree directly but building a canopy-like structure at the height of about 6 to 7 feet (1.8 to 2.1m) covering the whole tea growing area as in the below picture. It requires skillful technique and great care, and is managed only in the Uji region. Excellent noble aroma and elegant sweetness are created by the "Tana" technique.
"Tana" is superior to "Jikagise" for a few reasons. "Tana" is much less of a burden for tea leaves and tea trees than "Jikagise" because "Jikagise" is placed directly over the tea leaves. "Tana" is a superior way to provide protection from the heat and intense sunlight. It is not completely understood why "Tana" produces such an excellent flavor in Gyokuro and Matcha, but tea producers in Japan are currently conducting research to find an answer to this question.
If you visit a tea farm in Japan and step under the "Tana" canopy,
you are immediately aware that the air under the "Tana" is quite
brisk and invigorating, which refreshes your mind and body. This is due
to the "breath" of the tea leaves under the canopy.
"Honzu" is a very special way of building "Tana". It is the traditional way of diffusing sunlight from long ago, and these days it is very rare to see, even in the Uji region. In the "Honzu" method, tea farmers build a structure to provide shade to the tea trees using only reeds and straw. Old-style reeds and straw provide the ideal shade for tea trees. And it is said that the constituents exuded from the straw through the rainwater exercise good effects on the tea leaves.
However, it is not easy to build this structure of reeds and straw, to gather so much reeds and straw, and to manage to keep the "Honzu" in good condition throughout the growing season. For example, if a strong wind blew just after placement of the straw, the straw would be blown away and ruined. If it rains once after the placement of the straw, the rainwater firms the structure.
As above, "Honzu" requires skillful technique and much great care, so that only less than 10 farmers in all of Japan manage "Honzu" (only in Ogura and a few other areas in the Uji region). However, the shading with reeds and straw of "Honzu" provide tea leaves with the very ideal conditions.
Our Kuradashi Gyokuro Pinnacle is grown in diffused sunlight under the
reed and straw "Honzu" which provides an ideal growing environment
for top-grade Gyokuro. If you are a Gyokuro lover, would you once enjoy
the excellent and subtle flavor grown with the traditional technique and
much great care?
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"Jikagise" shading from sunlight
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"Tana" made with modern building materials |
"Honzu" made with reeds and straw is a traditional style of "Tana" |
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Building "Honzu". Placing straws on the reed frame
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Hand picked harvest in "Honzu"
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(visit to Gyokuro shopping category)
Today most tea leaves are trimmed by machine and traditional hand picked Gyokuro, Sencha, and Matcha are rarely grown and is therefore very precious. The flavor and aroma of hand picked tea is much more mellow and smooth than tea trimmed by machine.
Tea trees for hand picked and for machine trimmed are grown in different ways, and tea sprouts of both types of trees grow differently. In the case of tea trees trimmed by machine, tea sprouts grow from the previously trimmed stubble. In contrast, in the case of tea trees picked by hand, tea sprouts shoot from the natural forks in the branches. The difference in sprout growth is the main reason why teas picked by hand vs. trimmed by machine have distinctly unique flavors. The flavor and aroma of hand picked tea is much more mellow and smooth than tea trimmed by machine and the leaves are of higher quality.
Even a skilled tea harvester can hand pick just up to 6 to 8kg of fresh tea leaves all through the day. The picked fresh tea leaves are processed and finished, at which point the total weight of the tea leaves is only about 18% of the fresh tea leaves. Even if about 20 skilled tea harvesters pick all through the day, we can only gather around 25 kg of finished precious hand picked tea.
From the time the sprouts appear to the time the leaves become too large to harvest is just a few days. So tea leaves must be harvested as quickly as possible in one long stretch. Therefore it is never easy to pick large amounts of tea leaves by skilled hands in just a few days.
Top grade tea, hand picked Gyokuro is grown only in quite a small amount. So, hand picked tea is very precious.
Our Kuradashi Gyokuro Pinnacle and Super Premium are carefully picked by hand.
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| Tea farm for hand-picked tea under the "Tana (Honzu)" canopy |
When tea is picked by hand, tea sprouts shoot from the natural forks in the branches. The sprouts create an excellent mellow and smooth flavor.
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Tea farm for tea trimmed by machine under the "Tana" canopy |
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Hand-picked tea harvest scene
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Machine-trimmed tea is harvested by only 2 or 3 people. In contrast, hand-picked tea is harvested by 10 to 30 people. |
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(visit to Gyokuro shopping category)
(Fertilizing)
It is said that high quality tea farming starts with enriching the soil. Therefore, autumn is a critical season for tea farmers. Tea trees grow best in autumn, so farmers work diligently to enrich the soil in late summer and early autumn. This work promotes new root growth production in tea plants. The work includes enriching the soil by adjusting soil pH to the proper acid levels, soil aeration by deep mechanical tillage, and application of autumn tea plant nutrients.
There are many tea farms in Japan with acidic soil and fertilizing only makes the soil more acidic, so it is necessary to adjust the soil to the appropriate pH. To adjust the acidity, farmers distribute lime between the tea trees in the month of September, then disc or cultivate the lime deep into the soil.
Roots of tea trees grow best in autumn, so it is very important for farmers
to fertilize during the autumn season. Generally they use eight to fifteen
varieties of fertilizer about ten times per year. Most farmers fertilize
mainly (30 to 50 percent of the annual amount) in the autumn so that the
fertilizer can slowly enrich the soil over a period of six months.
Tea trees for Gyokuro and Matcha are fertilized two to three times as much as other kinds of tea, such as Sencha, in order to create the characteristic deep mellow taste. Fertilizers should be fed in small amounts, several times every ten days or more. This process starts around the middle of September and continues to the middle of November. Fertilizing is more important and tough work for Gyokuro and Matcha tea farmers.
(Struggle with Harmful Insects and Disease)
As explained above, autumn is the season when the most amount of fertilizer is fed to the tea trees. If tea trees are not healthy in autumn due to damage by harmful insects or disease, the tea trees can’t absorb enough of the nutrition of fertilizer, and unhealthy tea trees will not produce a good crop next spring. Therefore, farmers must struggle with harmful insects and disease in July and August, when Harmful insects start buzzing around the tea farm, in order to keep tea trees healthy.
Tea farmers frequently check their crops to see if any problem is developing, and if so, they must immediately take appropriate action. Very strict management for preventing harmful insects and diseases is required for hand-picked tea which is the highest grade. As you know, tea trees for hand-picked tea and for machine-trimmed tea are grown in different ways, and tea sprouts of both types of trees grow differently. (For more information, click here.) If tea leaves of tea trees for hand-picked tea are damaged once, new sprouts will immediately appear from the root of the damaged tea leaves, and the sprouts will become branches. Under ideal conditions, tea trees for hand-picked tea should grow straight upward without any branches. Therefore, farmers must check the tea leaves for hand-picked tea almost every day.
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Tea farm for "Honzu" canopy in Ogura area in autumn
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Fertilized soil at the tea farm for "Honzu" canopy
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Tea farm for tea trimmed by machine under the "Tana" canopy |
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MAKI MUSHI (rolling insect) rolls tea leaves roundly and is resident in it.
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Brown color parts are damaged by TANSO disease. |
Tea trees for hand-picked tea under ideal conditions. They grow straight upward without any branches.
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(visit to Gyokuro shopping category)
In the present day, people are able to enjoy fresh Shincha tea flavor and aroma throughout the year almost the same as real Shincha, because preservation techniques and technology have made remarkable progress. In Japan, expertise and special facilities enable tea leaves to retain their freshness, so you can experience the taste and smell of newly-harvested Japanese green tea. And today, the fresh flavor and aroma can be enjoyed all over the world thanks to modern global economics, logistics, and transportation.
Long ago when these special storage facilities did not exist, people continuously
tried to keep tea leaves in good condition and to deepen the flavor, but
it was difficult. Inquiring minds in Kyoto, Japan developed and improved
the farming and processing techniques suitable for Kuradashi Gyokuro over
many generations. The Kyoto region and Uji in particular have a very long
history of green tea production. Tea trees were first planted in Uji, Kyoto
around A.D. 1271, while other Japanese centers of tea production started
more recently, less than 100 years ago. The farming and processing techniques,
along with the tea ceremony, developed and perfected over time in Uji and
the entire Kyoto region, are the longest and most highly-developed cultural
traditions among all tea production centers in Japan.
We at Hibiki-an believe that Kuradashi Gyokuro is one of life's best "slow
foods" that anyone around the world can enjoy. The enriched flavor
of Kuradashi Gyokuro is created by the distinctive regional traditional
way, and takes time to perfect. Let's enjoy "slow life" with
Kuradashi Gyokuro.
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The farming and processing techniques developed and perfected over time
in Uji, Kyoto
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Now anyone around the world can enjoy the enriched flavor of Kuradashi Gyokuro created by the distinctive regional traditional way. |
We are planning to sell three limited edition Kuradashi Gyokuro items and one Kuradashi Sencha item only
available mid-autumn. Please wait and see!
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Kuradashi Gyokuro Super Premium (40g/1.41oz): US$26.00 (Out of stock)
The superb enriched and sweetened flavor and aroma lingers in the mouth for a while. The aroma is full, but not too strong. The flavor is rich and subtle. The taste is both mellow and enhanced... |
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Kuradashi Gyokuro Premium (80g/2.82oz): US$29.00 (Out of stock)
All Gyokuro does not gain an enriched flavor but only specific kinds of Gyokuro. We have enriched this highest grade of trimmed Gyokuro for one and a half years... |
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Kuradashi Gyokuro Pinnacle (40g/1.41oz): US$38.00 (Out of stock)
Tea leaves for this special tea grow in the Ogura area in the Uji region, which is known as one of the foremost production centers of the highest grade of enriched Gyokuro... |
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Kuradashi Sencha (80g/2.82oz): US$27.00 (Out of stock)
Tea leaves for this special tea grow in the Ogura area in the Uji region, which is known as one of the foremost production centers of the highest grade of enriched Gyokuro... |
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