In Japan, there is a tradition to send green tea picked in the first season as a seasonal greeting gift.

日本では、春の新茶を贈り物にする習慣があります。

 

 

 

 

5月−6月お茶の取引

 

In Japan, a season of the early tea- picking comes in the late March until around the end of May. 

A special period  which we call

[ Hachi ju- Hachi Ya /八十八夜 ( the eighty-eighth date from the first day of spring ) is especially popular as a gift.（It was May 1st in the year 2020.) 

It is based on the solar calendar, and some farmers pick up fresh green tea particularly on this day.

In Shizuoka, first  tea picking season usually lasts until the end of May and it continues to the 2nd picking season during June.  

In the season of the year 2020,  tea farmers suffered from [ frost damage ] at least twice during the important period,  As the timing approaches, they carefully observe weather condition and once there’s a frost or rain,  they must take immediate actions to rescue teas from the damage by covering them with huge net, or turning on the electric fan to adjust the temperature over the farm.   You can imagine how intensive the work is, and how unpredictable the nature that changes suddenly! 

The prolonging situation of COVID-19 hugely affected the early season’s tea trading / bidding this season.

The most important opening ceremony of tea trading in Shizuoka tea market was cancelled , followed by the slowdown of positive purchasing of new season’s tea.  It was a challenging  start for all people who were associated with tea industry in Japan.

 

As the main hub of  green tea trading, Shizuoka receives teas from many regions across Japan  e.g.  Kyushu region, Kagwa, Kyoto, Saitama etc… professionals do tasting  the quality to evaluate them and  make a quotation, Distributors place orders by assuming the client’s demand. 

 

新茶の収穫が始まるのは一般に早い所は種子島、屋久島の3月下旬から、静岡は4月の中旬からです。

静岡でも標高の高い場所では5月下旬になっても新茶の収穫は続いています。

今年は新型コロナの影響で毎年恒例の新茶初取引の式典も中止になり、お茶農家、問屋、小売店やその他お茶に関わる人全てが試行錯誤しながらのスタートでした。

静岡は日本各地のお茶が集まり、様々なプロの手を経て再び県外へ運ばれていく、特別な「お茶どころ」。遠く九州は鹿児島や種子島からも静岡産より早く新茶が運ばれて来るのです。

 

 

 

Green tea, especially [ Sencha ] represents Shizuoka.

静岡と言えば富士山とお茶。

 

 

Shin cha (新茶) 

 

 

Shin cha ( 新茶/  first-pick green tea of the season ) are sold  as a gift for its auspicious meaning , that says as whoever drinks this tea, it extends the longevity.  Japanese people particularly appreciate the value of [ earliest pick ( of harvest , catches ) from the nature.  We call them [ Hatsu-mono/初物 ] and often watch the news of them on TV news.

In addition to the auspicious meaning,  the first pick green tea has the following characters:

Fresh aroma that comes from young tea buds (  flower-like, freshly-raw green aroma ) 

And those aroma can be explained by the ingredients in the young tea:

 

 Refreshing , grassy aroma…. Leaf alcohol

Flowery, gorgeous aroma …Linalool, Geraniol

Heavy , laver-like aroma… dimethyl sulfide

 

These strong character makes the taste of young tea  more special ,  gives us the awareness of the new life.

 

 

 

 

さて「初物」「旬」にこだわる日本人ですがなぜ「新茶」が高値で取引され、また贈り物として好印象があるかと言うと

 

「初物」に価値を見出す日本人の感覚に加えて

若く柔らかい芽から生まれる

爽やかな、ちょっと青い香り、花のような香り

でしょうか。

 

この香り、すこし詳しく説明すると：

 

爽やかな青い香り　　　▶️青葉アルコール

花のような華やかな香り▶️リナロール／ゲラニオール

ちょっと海苔っぽい？　▶️ジメチルスルフィド

 

などがあります。この生命感溢れる初々しい香りは季節の贈り物として最適。しかも嵩張らず軽いのも遠方に送ったり手土産にするにもぴったりなのです。

 

 

Furthermore, 

It’s really nice to taste  the tea leaves themselves while they remains in the pot! 

更に嬉しいことに

急須に残ったお茶は食べても美味しい！２度美味しい！

 

 

 

Compared with ordinary tea ,  first-season’s  green tea has very soft texture which is good to be eaten.   

Try drizzling a little dash of Ponzu dressing,  dashi soy-sauce or any flavor you want to try!  The slight bitterness will spread inside your mouth and leaves a great aroma that stimulates your nose.

This is an important fact: the  remaining tea leaves contains almost 40 percent of nutrition out of whole green tea ! 

Those includes mainly: 

 

vitamin E

fiber

Protein ( water insoluble )

β-carotene 

minerals 

They are very nutritious for your health , we’d like to introduce the positive health benefit of drinking   / eating benefit of green tea in the next column ! 

Enjoy the seasonal green tea and if you have found a new sensation, we are most happy to get feedbacks  from you ! 

 

 

 

 

新茶の芽はとても柔らかくしっとりしています。お茶を頂いた後捨ててしまうのは実は勿体無いのです。

ポン酢やドレッシングを少しかけたり、お浸しにしたり…柔らかいお茶の葉の風味が口の中でふわりと広がります。

 

何とお茶の葉には、煎じたお茶の残り４０％もの栄養価が残っています。（ビタミンE、食物繊維、タンパク質、βカロテン、ミネラルなどの水不溶性の栄養要素）

 

お手元に新茶がある方は是非、その香りや味を今までとは違う気分で楽しんでは如何でしょう？

 

We will introduce the discovery of [ matured autumn green tea  ] in another time.

（秋の熟製茶の美味しさをご紹介する機会があれば又…）

 

 

写真の無断転用を禁止します。All photographs are protected with copyrights.