Kamairicha Zairai - Option: 50 g

Kamairicha 釜炒り茶 is produced by pan-fried method (kamairi), instead of the conventional Japanese method of steaming. This style of transformation gives a particular balance between bitterness and sweetness, exempt from the typical astringency found in Sencha style teas.

When tea culture was brought to Japan from China, tea leaves were processed by pan-firing tea leaves to stop oxidation. Nearly all tea leaves from Japan are steamed, but Kamairicha retains the old "Chinese style" of pan-firing, as well as a loose, twisted leaf (as opposed to the fine, needle roll in present-day sencha). This tea represents a hallmark of the historical progression of tea-making styles in Japan. While Chinese in style, the aroma and taste are very different than its Chinese counterpart. The prized umami flavor is present, but there is also a beautiful sweetness with far less astringency than a classic sencha or Chinese green tea. Pleasant nutty aromas, flavours similar to chestnuts, a slightly sweet and citrusy after taste: this tea is a great combination of smoothness and intensity.

Zairai 在来 means “native” in Japanese, and in tea it’s used to mean an old tea tree of no identifiable cultivar. Cultivars are essentially clones, because the tea plants are grown from cuttings (instead of seeds) so that the characteristics remain the same. With Zairai (sometimes also known as yamacha), each tea tree has very different traits because it came from a seed. They are all collectively known as zairai, but they aren’t really a cultivar. Many of the zairai tea plants are very old, hundreds of years in fact. Unless it’s an old zairai tea field, where the tea plants are regularly trimmed, they have grown into tea trees.