Information

2015.04.27

Shincha（新茶）or New Tea 2015 Is Now Available

 

Kagoshima Cha is the tea which can be harvested earliest in Japan. This year, the harvest started one week earlier since the weather became warm quickly since mid-April. “Shincha” （新茶）or new tea will have nice aroma, sweetly delicious flavor, beautiful green color and the bitterness that lingers in the mouth. This is the exciting time that tea drinkers have been waiting for.

This year, the green tea manufacturer association and the Japanese tea instructor association of Kagoshima set up three “100-yen Green Tea Shops” (「百円茶屋」) at the Kagoshima airport, the central train station and also Hakata train station in Fukuoka.

On Sunday, April 26, 2015, SAKURAJIMA attended the tea ceremony and the introduction of new tea to people in general at the Kagoshima international airport. This time, the association provided “Kirishima Cha” or green tea of Kirishima （霧島市）which is where the airport is situated. Most of the tea plantations in Kirishima are on the mountains. Therefore, the green tea will have mild aroma which is called “the scent of the mountain”. Most of the tea is briefly steamed. As a result, the tea will have yellowish green color and bittersweet flavor.

Shincha will come out again around 2 weeks after the Sakura has blossomed. The smell and the taste of new tea remind people of the atmosphere of spring which has arrived.