Induces the Alpha state like no other. Clean, mildly vegetal, ocean and kombu, and truly First Flush. Power tea.
Details
- : Green
- : Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan.
- : Medium
- : In the high elevations of the Kashogima organic tea pioneer Nishi-san and his family grow the three types of tea plants that are blended to create our asamushi shincha (first flush sencha) in a Japan Agriculture Standard and USDA certified organic tea garden, then the leaves are lightly steamed.
- : Refreshing and balanced with a pleasing bitter-sweetness and light grassiness.
- : Japanese Cuisine or Samovar’s Maki Bowl
More of the Nishi 1st Flush Tea Story:
This incredible asamushi sencha is produced for Samovar by Japan’s most famed organic tea grower and his number one tea blender. Its story begins in Southern Japan’s Kagoshima Prefecture on the southwest tip of Kyushu, the third largest island in Japan.
Kashogima is known for its natural hot springs, its subtropical climate and its agriculture, including green tea, sweet potatoes and record-setting radishes. Kashogima’s volcanic soil and high elevations lend themselves to the growth of rich, juicy teas, and its warm, southern climate gives it the distinction of being the first place in Japan where shincha (the first flush) is harvested annually.
It is in Kashogima that the famed Nishi-san and his family grow and crossbreed organic tea. In his tea gardens, he grows over twelve cultivars of tea plants, each with their own, unique flavor, aroma, color and leaf-shape characteristics. Nishi-san is known as a pioneer in the organic tea movement. The Japan Agriculture Standard has certified all of Nishi-san’s tea gardens as organic, including a special USDA-National Organic Program certified garden he created specifically for Samovar in the higher elevations of Kashogima.
In Samovar’s garden, Nishi-san grows three types of tea plants for Nishi Asamushi. The first, Yabukita, is the classic sencha varietal that comprises 70% of all the tea grown in Japan. The other two are Okumidori (late green) and Asatsuyu (morning dew, sometimes called natural Gyokuro for its verdant coloration). These tea plants provide Nishi Asamushi with a particularly vivid green dry-leaf color reminiscent of deeper-steamed senchas.
However, unlike fukamushi (deep-steamed) and chumushi (medium-steamed) senchas, asamushi (traditional, light-steamed) sencha has distinctively long, shiny, needle-like leaves, which produce its golden-yellow infusion. Because of Kashogima’s warm climate, the leaves for Nishi Asamushi are amongst the first plucked in Japan each year. This makes it one of the first of the shinchas (first flush teas) available annually.
The singularity of this tea does not end with its growth and harvest. Japanese tea farmers typically sell their teas at auction, but Nishi-san prefers to act as a ’’contract grower,’’ working with a select few tea companies of his choosing to maintain the quality and integrity of his tea. This Nishi Asamushi is virtually unavailable outside of Samovar and Kashogima.
Before Nishi-san’s senchas reach Samovar, they are blended and dried by Ko-san, Samovar’s friend-in-tea and Jesse’s friend-in-surfing. Ko-san runs Japan’s leading organic tea company and buys much of Nishi-san’s ’’semi-made’’ (steamed, unblended, undried) tealeaves. Using a combination of new technologies and skills he learned from his father and uncle (who started the company over 60 years ago), Ko-san collaborates closely with Nishi-san and Samovar for the exclusive Nishi Asamushi we offer you today.
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