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 is the most severe in the past 5 years. For example, even the morning and evening temperatures are still a little higher than average this year. In contrast, we have received plenty of rainfall over the summer, especially during the TSUYU rainy season. Therefore, the condition of the tea trees is relatively good, and there is now hardly any HAYAKE leaf scald damage at our tea farms. We farmers expect a heavy crop of tea next spring.

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 66F or 72F (19C or 22C) with high temperatures of 82F or 92F (28C or 33C) 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.)

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 6. (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