Premium Bancha, Familia Otsuka

Plucked at the end of the first harvest in the month of June. The trees have received more sunlight developing more tannins. Although in Japan there are four harvests and the last three are called Bancha, our supplier only picks the tea leaves twice a year as the more you cut the weaker the plant and this will result in less quality the following year.

Once the leaves are collected they are manufactured through the Fukamushi process. This is a Bancha of very high quality that competes with Senchas of second harvest.

In the late 1860s, the lord of Kagegawa Castle, a vassal of the shogun Ieyashu Tokugama, rewarded the samurai Genpei Otsuka with land to farm. Five generations later, descendant Mr. Hiroshi Otsuka and his family maintain and manage the family farm, growing and manufacturing the highest quality tea.

A mountainous place blessed with fertile soils, springs, streams, morning mists and good sea breezes from the Pacific Ocean, lovingly cared for by the Otsuka family, whose rows of excellent varietal trees perfectly aligned and pruned seem almost sculpted.

Feeding them with a mixture of organic fertilizer and seeds that they cover with straw, providing them with nitrogen and amino acids that, absorbed by the roots, favour their growth and enhance the flavour of their infusion.

By harvesting only twice a year and skipping some harvests, they reduce stress on the bushes, allowing the leaves to grow more vigorously and concentrate more on nutrients, flavour and aroma.

Freshly cut, the leaves are taken to the factory where the Fukamushi manufacturing process begins, which consists of steaming, cooling, rolling and drying, followed by a meticulous selection process to create the base (Aracha) of the different teas that they make.

The good work of the Otsuka family has earned them many quality awards throughout their history at the Excellent Green Tea Fair that is held every year in Tokyo.