2024 Saitama Samaya Matcha and Hojicha - Ceremonial and Common Grades
- In stock, ready to ship
- Backordered, shipping soon
Most are familiar with matcha from Kyoto, but of the 47 prefectures of Japan, in fact 44 of them produce tea except for Hokkaido, Osaka and Yamagata. We learnt about Sayama teas when we held a tocha (斗茶) session during COVID together with NPO (Non Profit Organisation) Agriculture Support Team in Saitama. Sayama tea is produced in Saitama Prefecture and the western region of Tokyo adjacent to Saitama Prefecture, mainly at Sayama Hills region. It is a registered regional trademark. Always in the background of the tea industry and mostly unheard of outside Japan, Sayama had made a mark in Japanese tea in the early years of the 19th century by inventing a tea roasting technique known as Sayama Hiire (狭山火入) based on the Kyoto Uji technique. Despite its low profile, Sayama teas holds an honour as one of top three famous teas, the other two being Shizuoka teas and Kyoto teas. As the saying goes: The colour of Shizuoka teas, the aroma of Uji teas, the flavour of Sayama teas (“静冈の色，宇治の香，狭山の味”).
Sayama teas are located in the northern tea production region of Japan. Having to always brave the cold climate including snow, the tea plants develop thicker leaves which accumulate more pectin and chemical compounds, giving richness of sweetness and a stronger flavour. For the same reason, its production is low and it can only manage two harvests a year - April/May and June/July. The low volume coupled with the existing tea lands located in expensive areas close to cities make high production cost. This explains why low volume cultivation like gyokuro and kabusesencha are avoided. The high intensity of population within Saitama and the greater Tokyo region are a natural market for the tea, making it unnecessary to market the teas elsewhere, hence explaining its low profile in the international tea market.
Inspired by the Saitama Grand Tea Ceremony in 1989, Sayama began organising their own Grand Tea Ceremony from 1990. The year following, the first experimental matcha was made. However, matcha production did not gain momentum until 2006 when tea factory Asuka (明日香) became the first matcha factory in the Kanto (関東) region to be established. It is a cooperative operated by five tea farmers (Okutomi-en, Yokoda-en, Asama-en, Kubota-en, Miyaoka-en) to produce matcha. Matcha is usually made from a blend of several varieties of tea, bought from several farmers. Asuka purchases tea leaves from about 10 farmers in Sayama, Tokorozawa, Hidaka and Iruma cities and blends them together. The varieties used are ‘Okumidori’ and ‘Gokou’. To make matcha, the tea fields must first be shaded for about 30 days before picking, a method uncommon in Sayama. At Asuka, the leaves are then steamed and dried without being rolled. During this drying process, a tall brick chimney called a 'tencha furnace' (碾茶炉) is used. At 12m above ground and 3m below, it is indispensable for producing high quality matcha. Having undergone several stages of drying, heating and tumbling in various machines in repeated steps, the tea leaves are now deveined and in neat fragments of similar sizes called tencha (碾茶). This is then finely ground in a milling well containing stone pallets. The freshly ground matcha is allowed to mature for several months before it is ready to be shipped and used.
The deveined parts of the leaves are then roasted in repeated steps to produce kukicha (茎茶). Added to this are roasted lower grade sencha leaves. These together are ground in a big grinder to produce hojicha. Same as the matcha, the freshly ground hojicha is also allowed to mature for several months before it is ready to be shipped and used.
The grades of matcha are dependent on a few factors, namely varieties, field management and time of picking. Usually reserved for higher grade matcha is 'Samidori', a bright colour variety cultivated in a smaller area, hence explaining its higher price and reserved status. In terms of field management, higher grade fields are well-managed on fertiliser selection and application, and the number of times the field is weeded. Such fields deliver the stronger umami and aroma that is typical of matcha. On the time of picking, the earlier the tea leaves are picked, the more umami they contain, and hence the higher the grade.
The ceremonial grade matcha made by Asuka is called Myosho (明松, pronounced 'myosho'). It is made using 'Samidori', picked early spring of 2024. Asuka makes 3 grades of ceremonial matcha, with the highest being packed in a white caddy, which is the one we carry. It was named by Minato Sodo Roshi, the director of Kenninji Temple (建仁寺) in Kyoto. This temple holds special significance in Japanese tea because of its relation to Zen master Myoan Eisai (明菴栄西). Today's Japanese tea ceremony could trace its roots back to him who laid the first principles of the art overlaid with Buddhist Zen principles. In 1202, the first ruling shogun of Japan Minamoto no Yoriie (源 頼朝) gifted him a piece of land in Heian-kyo (平安京, today's Kyoto) on which he founded Kenninji Temple. He died in 1215 at the age of 74, and is buried in the temple grounds. The temple is a short walk from the Myoto main train station.
Brew Flavour
We are using a bamboo whisk (chasen, 茶筅) to whisk the matcha swiftly in a ceramic bowl (chawan, 茶碗) to create a foamy and smooth broth, using 4g to 60ml of 60°C water to make a thin beverage called a usucha (薄茶) as well as 4g to 35ml of 60°C water to make a thick beverage called a koicha (濃い茶). Without a bamboo whisk or matcha bowl, one can use a small fork in a mug and stir speedily.
Sayama teas are located in the northern tea production region of Japan. Having to always brave the cold climate including snow, the tea plants develop thicker leaves which accumulate more pectin and chemical compounds, giving richness of sweetness and a stronger flavour. For the same reason, its production is low and it can only manage two harvests a year - April/May and June/July. The low volume coupled with the existing tea lands located in expensive areas close to cities make high production cost. This explains why low volume cultivation like gyokuro and kabusesencha are avoided. The high intensity of population within Saitama and the greater Tokyo region are a natural market for the tea, making it unnecessary to market the teas elsewhere, hence explaining its low profile in the international tea market.
Inspired by the Saitama Grand Tea Ceremony in 1989, Sayama began organising their own Grand Tea Ceremony from 1990. The year following, the first experimental matcha was made. However, matcha production did not gain momentum until 2006 when tea factory Asuka (明日香) became the first matcha factory in the Kanto (関東) region to be established. It is a cooperative operated by five tea farmers (Okutomi-en, Yokoda-en, Asama-en, Kubota-en, Miyaoka-en) to produce matcha. Matcha is usually made from a blend of several varieties of tea, bought from several farmers. Asuka purchases tea leaves from about 10 farmers in Sayama, Tokorozawa, Hidaka and Iruma cities and blends them together. The varieties used are ‘Okumidori’ and ‘Gokou’. To make matcha, the tea fields must first be shaded for about 30 days before picking, a method uncommon in Sayama. At Asuka, the leaves are then steamed and dried without being rolled. During this drying process, a tall brick chimney called a 'tencha furnace' (碾茶炉) is used. At 12m above ground and 3m below, it is indispensable for producing high quality matcha. Having undergone several stages of drying, heating and tumbling in various machines in repeated steps, the tea leaves are now deveined and in neat fragments of similar sizes called tencha (碾茶). This is then finely ground in a milling well containing stone pallets. The freshly ground matcha is allowed to mature for several months before it is ready to be shipped and used.
The deveined parts of the leaves are then roasted in repeated steps to produce kukicha (茎茶). Added to this are roasted lower grade sencha leaves. These together are ground in a big grinder to produce hojicha. Same as the matcha, the freshly ground hojicha is also allowed to mature for several months before it is ready to be shipped and used.
The grades of matcha are dependent on a few factors, namely varieties, field management and time of picking. Usually reserved for higher grade matcha is 'Samidori', a bright colour variety cultivated in a smaller area, hence explaining its higher price and reserved status. In terms of field management, higher grade fields are well-managed on fertiliser selection and application, and the number of times the field is weeded. Such fields deliver the stronger umami and aroma that is typical of matcha. On the time of picking, the earlier the tea leaves are picked, the more umami they contain, and hence the higher the grade.
The ceremonial grade matcha made by Asuka is called Myosho (明松, pronounced 'myosho'). It is made using 'Samidori', picked early spring of 2024. Asuka makes 3 grades of ceremonial matcha, with the highest being packed in a white caddy, which is the one we carry. It was named by Minato Sodo Roshi, the director of Kenninji Temple (建仁寺) in Kyoto. This temple holds special significance in Japanese tea because of its relation to Zen master Myoan Eisai (明菴栄西). Today's Japanese tea ceremony could trace its roots back to him who laid the first principles of the art overlaid with Buddhist Zen principles. In 1202, the first ruling shogun of Japan Minamoto no Yoriie (源 頼朝) gifted him a piece of land in Heian-kyo (平安京, today's Kyoto) on which he founded Kenninji Temple. He died in 1215 at the age of 74, and is buried in the temple grounds. The temple is a short walk from the Myoto main train station.
Brew Flavour
We are using a bamboo whisk (chasen, 茶筅) to whisk the matcha swiftly in a ceramic bowl (chawan, 茶碗) to create a foamy and smooth broth, using 4g to 60ml of 60°C water to make a thin beverage called a usucha (薄茶) as well as 4g to 35ml of 60°C water to make a thick beverage called a koicha (濃い茶). Without a bamboo whisk or matcha bowl, one can use a small fork in a mug and stir speedily.
For the 'Samidori' Myosho ceremonial matcha, the eye is greeted with a delicious bright green colour, accompanied by aroma of flowers and grass on a strong umami taste. There is brightness in the taste without much bitterness or astringency.For the ‘Okumidori’ and ‘Gokou’ matcha, the colour is green although at a lesser extent as compared to the ceremonial grade. The nose sniffs an unmistakable fragrance of seaweed, translating into a bright and umami flavour of roasted nuts and flowers, in a rich sweetness with pleasant astringency and bitterness which dissipate into a clean and nutty afterflavour.
We employ the same method for hojicha. On a lighter roast, this hojicha is clean and sweet and not overly roasty. The dominant flavours are sesame, seeds and nuts, also with rich sweetness without much astringency nor bitterness.
Welcome onboard Parchmen & Co, and travel with us to savour our world in a cup!
5g to 60ml, 60°C water
Whisk with chasen to produce a creamy and foamy tea
