Ike No Waki Sencha Yabukita

We feel very honoured to be able to offer this tea to you, produced by Czech/Japanese couple Aleš and Sachi Gallas. The pair grow and process tea at their tea garden, 'Nengangcha', in Gifu Prefecture at an altitude of 450-500 metres in a village which has been producing tea for over 400 years.

Nengancha translates to dreamed-of, desired or wished-for tea, fitting to the reinvigorating work Aleš and Sachi are doing in this area where tea production has tended to close down, not open like in this case, in recent times.

The symbol of the garden is the Japanese giant salamander, one of the largest amphibians in the world, which can be seen in the river that flows through the village and gives it it's name - Higashishirakaw or Eastern White River.

Aleš and Sachi do not use any chemicals in the production of their tea, which relies solely on the area's favourable tea growing conditions for its excellent qualities: heavy mists, high rainfall and large temperature differences between day and night. Their plantation is surrounded by forest on all sides, and faces almost exactly to the south.

This sencha has been named Ike no Waki Sencha or 'sencha by the pond', as the yabukita leaves used to produce it grown near an old resevoir for retaining mountain water for the rice fields below. It perfectly characterises a sencha made from the yabukita variety - sweet, fresh, pleasant, light and invigorating.

"I hope that our tea will appeal to you and will transport you for a while to the land of deep mountains and green forests, to the Eastern White River..." - Aleš Gallas, Nengancha

Flavour profile: fresh, light, sweet

50g

origin Higashi-Shirakawa, Gifu, Japan
altitude 450-500m
harvest Spring 2024
cultivar Yabukita
processing asamushi (lightly steamed)
multiple-steeping
water 70°/150ml
tea 5g
time 1m – 1.5m – 3m
single-steeping
water 70°/450ml
tea 8g
time 2m