Production date: 12/23

Production area: Kagoshima Kirishima

Cultivar: Zairai

Producer: Udoguchi Kazufumi

Zairai is tea grown from seed. They are now mostly replaced by cultivated varieties of tea, and native teas are said to make up less than 3% of the total.

While cultivar tea gardens are planted with "clones" of tea plants that are grown from cuttings for easier of management, native tea gardens are planted from seeds, which means that each tea plant has its own unique characteristics.

The tea is a natural blend of teas, which is blended in the tea plantation, and has a richer flavor and aroma.

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The tea leaves used for Gaho are harvested and steamed by visiting each tea farmer during the harvest so that the people who drink them can experience authentic tea. On the harvest day, the tea leaves are steamed, frozen and stored separately for each production area, variety, and farmer through a method that preserves the seasonal aroma.

Tea is usually produced by tea farmers and shipped to the market. Then, a wholesaler makes a bid for the tea, then it is sorted and packaged, and it finally makes its way to the store. It thus takes time for the tea to reach you from the tea fields, and it was the privilege of the tea farmers, who were involved in tea production when tea was in season, to taste the freshly made, freshly rolled tea.

At Baisa Nakamura, steamed tea leaves from farmers are carefully processed on the same day in a small tea-making machine at the shop so that you can taste the fresh leaves. Storing the tea leaves away from high temperatures and humidity allows the tea leaves to mature and develop a richer flavour.