At last, we have started the Pre-order sale of Kuradashi Tea!
We have been arranging three limited edition Kuradashi Gyokuro and one Kuradashi Sencha for pre-order sales. They are limited edition of 850 packages each ONLY AVAILABLE this autumn season.
Each pre-order item is anticipated to be shipped around October 1 to 3. It is just before the Kuchikiri no Gi ceremony, when people celebrate Kuradashi Tea in Kyoto on October 4.
To pre-order, please go through the order process as usual. (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 Kohshoh 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 gathering is called Kumiage no Gi drawing water ceremony.
- The water is solemnly and mindfully carried to Kohshoh 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.
- Buddhist rite for used tea whisks is held after the Kuchikiri no Gi ceremony.

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"). With the "Jikagise" method, the tea plants are directly covered with a type of black fabric. "Tana" is not covering the tea tree directly but building a canopy.
- 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?

Our Kuradashi Gyokuro (mainly Pinnacle and Super Premium) is processed at an extremely traditional facility with great care and consideration.

Our hand-picked fresh tea leaves are processed with a small capacity processing machine. The processing capacity is 35kg (15.9lb) of raw, fresh tea leaves per batch, which is much less than the typical processing capacity today. The typical processing capacity is 60kg (27.2lb), 120kg (54.4lb) or more. The processed tea leaves become roughly one-fifth of the weight of the original fresh tea leaves. The small capacity machine can produce just 7kg (3.2lb) or less per batch in 4 hours. Using such a small capacity machine, farmers can process the tea in a careful and conscientious manner.

An Aracha processing facility is usually run by one person. But, our hand-picked fresh tea leaves are processed at a facility run by a skilled team. The small capacity processing machine is operated by three people, while two others sort the tea leaves by hand.

Much time and effort are invested in processing the Aracha tea leaves for our Kuradashi Gyokuro. It is often said that Gyokuro tea leaves are like Diamonds.

The mornings and evenings are now getting cool here in Ujitawara, Kyoto. Curious to say, the first hints of autumn coolness indeed make the flavor and warmth of hot tea even more inviting and desirable.

This year the lingering summer heat was severe, similar to the past few years in Kyoto, yet it felt somewhat more tolerable. There were many days in which both morning and night were relatively pleasant.
The TSUYU rainy season ended around July 8, which was 11 days earlier than usual. And we did not have so many rainy days in August. As a result, this year’s summer rainfall was less than average, which is not good for tea trees. Luckily, we don’t see HAYAKE leaf scald damage or poor bud growth at our tea farms this year. It may be thanks to the pleasant mornings and nights.
We have had around 19 to 22 rainy days in 4 weeks from the end of August to the middle of September. The September rainfall amount is more than usual so far. Thanks to that, trees appear to have become remarkably more energetic. We tea farmers sincerely hope that the rain continues, so that we have plenty of rain from this autumn to winter.

Summer flowers have finished blooming and autumn flowers are beginning to appear. The seven autumn wild flowers, loved by tea masters for generations, are blooming. Autumn fruit trees such as persimmon are starting to produce green fruits that will soon ripen to a beautiful orange color, a symbol of autumn.
Major insects at our tea farms have been changing too. Summer insects such as spider, ladybird, mantis, and so on, decreased sharply in number, while autumn insects such as red dragonfly and brown locust have made their appearance.

In Ujitawara, Kyoto, the low temperatures have been around 65F or 70F (18C or 21C) with high temperatures of 74F or 88F (24C or 31C) this past week. Though this year's lingering summer heat has been intense, recent cool mornings and nights suddenly make us feel a desire for Kuradashi tea.

Kuradashi teas, which have been enriched in wooden boxes in the granary for 1.5 years, since last May, are almost ready. Kuradashi teas have a deepened mellow and sweet taste and enhanced subtle noble aroma. We will begin to offer these limited edition teas within the next 10 days. Please wait and see! (We are now accepting pre-orders for Kuradashi Gyokuro and Kuradashi Sencha.)

This year's TSUYU rainy season started around June 4 and ended around July 8 in Kyoto - both dates were in line with the average, but 11 days earlier than usual. As a result, although the rainy season was shorter than usual, there was substantial rainfall, and the total precipitation was on par with the average.

As in the past few years, the intense heat has persisted, but with maximum temperatures ranging from 35C to 36C (95F to 97F) degrees, and many mornings and evenings being relatively comfortable, it feels somewhat more bearable in Kyoto this summer.
Due to the high temperatures and low rainfall during the summers of the past two to three years, the tea trees have become somewhat weakened, and we tea farmers are hoping for sufficient rainfall this fall and winter.

The weather typically starts getting cooler in the early morning and at night in Ujitawara, Kyoto around August 15, after the OBON religious festival. The weather forecast says that this coming September will be a bit hotter than usual and will have the same amount of rainfall as usual. Tea trees need plenty of rainfall in autumn. It greatly affects the next year's Shincha harvest. Farmers pray that the much-anticipated autumn rain will bring vitality to the tea trees.

Autumn is going to be on its way soon and so are our seasonal autumn Kuradashi teas. Following traditional methods, our Kuradashi teas have been enriched in wooden boxes in the granary for one and a half years, since last May, and will be ready in a few more weeks.
The deepened mellow and noble flavor of enriched Kuradashi Gyokuro and Kuradashi Matcha will be available in mid-autumn. Please wait and see!

Do you know Kuradashi Tea? In contrast to Sencha, which is enjoyed for its refreshing aroma immediately after harvest, Gyokuro and Matcha gain an enriched flavor and deep noble aroma and sweetness over time, and therefore are best some months after harvest. A long time ago, people celebrated aged Gyokuro and Matcha in autumn, just as Shincha is celebrated in spring. This special autumn tea was called Kuradashi Tea, meaning tea taken out from the granary. Our Kuradashi Tea is aged in the granary for more than 1.5 years.

Today's Japanese tea lovers favor both fresh Gyokuro and Matcha, and enriched Kuradashi Gyokuro and Matcha. 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 Tea even in Japan. It is not easy to enrich and sweeten Gyokuro and Matcha. If one doesn't keep a close watch over their Kuradashi Tea, it will easily deteriorate. Like a fine wine, aged tea can easily pass from a state of being deliciously enriched to a state of being deteriorated.
Besides, all Gyokuro and Matcha do not gain an enriched flavor but only specific kinds of Gyokuro and Matcha. 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 create Kuradashi Tea.
Since we at Hibiki-an, understand the traditional way of aging Kuradashi Tea properly, we are happy to be able to provide you with Kuradashi Gyokuro and Matcha. We would like Japanese tea lovers around the world to be able to experience the remarkable and noble enriched and sweetened flavor and aroma of true Kuradashi Gyokuro and Matcha.

Kuradashi Gyokuro and Matcha, which are aged in the granary for more than 1.5 years, are different from ordinary Gyokuro and Matcha in aroma and flavor, so it may be enjoyable for you to compare this tea with regular Gyokuro and Matcha. 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 and Matcha can best be described in the same way a fine wine is described and enjoyed by connoisseurs. Like Pinot Noir red wine, Kuradashi Gyokuro and Matcha are 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!

At last Kuradashi Gyokuro is now available!
The Kuchikiri no Gi ceremony was solemnly and mindfully held at Kosho Temple in Uji and people celebrated Kuradashi Gyokuro on October 4. (For more information, please see above 'Kuchikiri no Gi ceremony.')
At the same time, our Kuradashi Gyokuro which has been stored for over 1.5 years was taken out from the granary. We have arranged three limited edition Kuradashi Gyokuro and one Kuradashi Sencha as described below. They are limited edition of 850 packages each ONLY AVAILABLE this autumn season. Two Kuradashi Matcha will start to be sold around late October. Please wait and see.
Celebrate Kuradashi Tea and enjoy the remarkable enriched flavor and sweetness which can only be experienced once every year! We are certain that the fine enriched flavor and sweetness will captivate you.

Kuradashi Gyokuro and Sencha