Pan-fired “Kamairi-cha”

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James Edward
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Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2020 7:13 pm
Location: Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
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Sat Jul 11, 2020 3:40 am

Hi, I tried some tea from Kumamoto Sourced by Thes Du Japon. What with the recent land slide in the area I thought it’d be nice to share something for Kumamoto (copy and paste from Instagram)

The things I wrote were drawn from my experience drinking this tea and my own study of tea from the Japanese tea instructor texts.

~

Kumamoto Prefecture💚💛💙 hang in there!
熊本県❗️

My selection of tea to start this fine day, amidst the continuing rainy season:

今日頂いた熊本県の釜炒り茶をレビューします。英語を勉強したい方、是非この文を通して、お茶の魅力も味わいましょう❗️下にも日本語は少しあります🍵

July 10, 2020:
Kama-iri cha (yabukita cultivar) from Amakusa City, Kumamoto Pref. This tea is sourced by Florent, whose runs Thés Du Japon (青鶴茶舗) in Tokyo.

Kama-iri cha falls under the category of Tamaryoku-cha. Among Japanese teas, Tamaryoku-cha as a collective refers to the type of tea with a “magatama” shape. Magatama are curve-shaped jewels or beads similar to a yin-yang half.
The leaves take in this “bent” shape as one of the main rolling techniques, 精揉 (which ordinarily rolls tea into its needle-like condition), is omitted thus leaving the tea curved like a wave caught in motion or an elderly person slightly (or very heavily) bent over in older age.

Tamaryoku-cha is either pan-fried or steamed before the beginning stages of rolling. Kama-iri cha refers to pan-fried tea, which is rarer in Japan these days, where steam processing is the main method. The traditional kettle frying technique lives on in Japan mainly in Kyushu:
Saga / Nagasaki prefectures (Ureshino-style Tea) and
Miyazaki / Kumamoto (Aoyagi-style Tea). Even in these areas the traditional hand method has largely been replaced by mechanization in rolling the leaves.

This variety of tea, in either its pan-fried (Kama-iri) or steamed (Mushi-sei) shape was exported to Russia and known as “Guri-cha”) until about 1932 when it took on its official name. There were instances of exportation of this tea to North Africa before and after world war 2 however production today is focused mainly on domestic demand and consumption.

The history of this variety of tea being traced from China and its roots runs even more deeply, and tie into the story of Eisai Zenji planting seeds at Sefuriyama at the border of Fukuoka and Saga prefectures around 1190. Tamaryoku-cha finds its origin in the Ming dynasty of China. The tea’s propagation from China to Japan and the subsequent trade routes it underwent from the Edo period in Japan onward are true points of interest!

There is fascinating history behind this tea, just as intriguing as it’s peculiar method of production, however I’m off to work in 1 hour 😅🍵

I brewed about 5 grams of leaf for just over 1 minute at 80 deg Celsius for the following experience:

☕︎up until cup 3, this tea did not disappoint. Flavor and aroma strong and intact. The routine of touching the leaves, weighing in the palm, and smelling before putting into the急須 tea pot and watching the leaves unfurl as steeping is a process that can be enjoyed for every tea, making for a stress-relieving experience before drinking

☕︎ my body literally warmed up all around the belly area and the caffeine / Theanine effect feels great after 15 minutes in- feelings of focus and well-being

☕︎The leaves themselves curl neatly and have a heaviness when held in the palm. Before brewing the leaves are a fresh yet thick green with a soft gloss.

☕︎this tea has a strong pan-fried aroma that is refreshing, not overbearing. The bitter and “raw green” flavors are almost non-present with a predominating Umami flavor.

For a deeper profile of this tea’s flavor, I’ll copy and paste this tea’s features as seen on Thés Du Japon’s homepage, as seen below:

“This kama-iri cha was entered in the 2015 national competition. Its leaves are a beautiful shiny deep green, finely rolled, thick, different from traditional kama-iri chas. Their fragrance is sweet, with notes of cacao. Infusing the leaves produces a warm scent, with aromas of sweet potato and roasted chestnuts.
In the mouth, there are peaty flavours at first, very aromatic, which express themselves before giving way to sweetness, umami, and then finally the savor of fresh vegetables, avocado, long in the mouth, which share the aftertaste with mellowness.”

~
By the way the components that give off the “pan fired aroma” of this tea is still (analytically) unclear.

However when analyzed in comparison to Sencha, it is found that pyrazine (a heating fragrance or 加熱香気成分) and geraniol + linalool (萎凋香 or withering fruit fragrance) are the contributing aromatics at play.

お茶って本当に宝物です。人間の人生の豊かさを拡大し、人を繋げる力も持ちます。ここまで読んでくださって、ありがとうございました😊
Tea holds mysterious power to both calm the central nervous system, leading it into the parasympathetic branch of the nervous system 副交感神経系 and contains many health benefits for body and mind. Additionally it connects people all over the world.
I mean I love coffee also, but how about a few cups of green tea? The variety and flavor might lure you into a whole new world of study and interest!

Thanks for reading!!

#日本茶インストラクター
#釜炒り茶
#玉緑茶
#熊本
#日本茶
#やぶきた
#天草市
#Thésdujapon
#thesdujapon
#青鶴茶舗
#japanesetea
#kumamoto
#japan
#teapot
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