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A TRAVELOGUE: BEHIND HON-GYOKURO

TEA CRAFT & ORIGIN | 02 September 2024 | 3 mins

Discover the secrets of Hon-Gyokuro, one of the rarest and finest Japanese green teas in the world. Accompany Reiko Heda on her annual pilgrimage with TWG Tea to Shizuoka Prefecture, the heart of Japan’s tea industry, and delve into the brand’s relationship with renowned tea plantations. Embark on a journey from leaf to cup: learn about the master artisan who meticulously crafts Hon-Gyokuro –
and the artisanal labour behind every exquisite sip.

A Tea Origin Story with Reiko Heda, Japan Business Development Director at TWG Tea

“Tea is a religion of the art of life,” the great Japanese writer Okakura Kakuzō wrote more than a century ago in his seminal work The Book of Tea, “In joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends.” These sentiments, like the Japanese teas he romanticised, hold a special place in my heart. Inevitably, when I hear these words, it’s as if a kindred spirit is reaching out through history, speaking directly to me.

Because I, too, feel this relationship with tea. Especially those grown in my home country, Japan. This is one of the reasons each spring is so special. During this magical harvest time, I travel deep into the tea heartlands of Shizuoka Province on a pilgrimage for TWG Tea. It’s a journey to source one of the world’s finest green teas: Hon-Gyokuro, which like many Japanese names, has a poetic meaning — Jade Dew.

Because of TWG Tea’s meticulous attention to detail and our unwavering commitment to bringing the finest teas of the world to our customers, it’s imperative that I visit our tea plantations in person. Because to create beautiful teas, I know that it’s not only the tea bushes that need care, attention and nourishment but also the relationships TWG Tea continues to grow with our artisanal tea planters in Japan and worldwide.

A JOURNEY TO THE LAND OF JADE DEW

Central Japan is one of the most famous regions for tea. The altitude, long days and cold nights provide perfect natural conditions under the watchful eye of the majestic Mount Fuji.

One legend says Mount Fuji formed in a single day — resulting from a massive earthquake and eruption — and became known as the “Never-Dying Mountain”. Other stories describe a goddess living in the volcano. For the Japanese, Mount Fuji symbolises purity, perseverance, and eternity with healing properties that can attain meditational and spiritual enlightenment.

Yet Mount Fuji is not the only natural icon here, adorning the landscape and capturing the imagination of Japanese people. There is something so pure and precious growing in the soil. One of the most delicious green teas in the world: Hon-Gyokuro.

Hon-Gyokuro is one of the rarest — and finest — green teas in the world because of the painstaking labour of love required to craft this artisanal tea. The method is unusual, ingenious and produced only by hand. In our modern world of fast-paced technology and machine-cultivated agriculture, this artform lives by the laws of nature and is steeped in tradition.

Hon in Japanese means “root” or “authentic”. The hon tradition is rare nowadays, with only a handful of planters still producing tea using this method. With a limited supply due to the handmade process of creating the tea and the intense demand in Japan, only a tiny amount of Hon-Gyokuro ever leaves the country.

TWG Tea is the only global tea brand to offer Hon-Gyokuro outside Japan. Even though it’s such a small amount, we take immense joy in producing, selecting and offering this extraordinary — yet difficult-to-produce — tea to showcase this savoir-faire to our customers worldwide.

NURTURING TEA AND RELATIONSHIPS

When I arrive in the springtime each year, it’s always a time of high pressure. This is when I travel each year to meet the artisans who craft Hon-Gyokuro, especially for our TWG Tea selection. It’s a pivotal time of anticipation when we wait to see what this year’s creation will bring.

This year, I’ve returned to visit an old friend — one of Japan’s most highly respected Hon-Gyokuro masters. Working with artisans like him all across Japan is an honour.

Making Hon-Gyokuro begins when the landscape awakens after winter. As soon as the first buds appear, the entire plantation is covered by rice straw mats, called komo, in Japanese. Yet these are not just any mats. The straw mats are grown especially to shade the tea and produce Hon-Gyokuro. Shutting out the direct sunlight for approximately three weeks from reaching the tea bushes reduces photosynthesis, resulting in higher levels of theanine, the amino acid that gives the tea a more full-bodied, less bitter, and sweeter taste.

These fresh straw mats serve numerous benefits. Firstly, they are rich in minerals. When rain filters through the mats, minerals shower down onto the soil, nourishing the bushes and enhancing the final flavour. Secondly, covering the tea bushes creates a cool environment, forcing the leaves to enter a survival state. A physiological change unfolds, and during photosynthesis, the leaves grow larger, which increases chlorophyll levels. The cool conditions have the magical effect of slowing the growing process, resulting in softer leaves with less fibre. Shading the tea bushes also prevents theanine from turning into tannin, yielding a beautiful green tea infusion with a sweeter, less astringent taste.

When it’s finally time for plucking, everything is done by hand. No machines are used because plucking must be perfect. After all, there is only one harvest each year, unlike other Japanese green teas. Then, only light pressure is applied during the steaming and rolling process as the cells are broken down within the leaves over many hours. The leaves become long and brittle. The stems are separated. Finally comes the drying process, and the tea turns into aracha or unprocessed tea. What is left is only a tiny amount because each harvest produces only a few dozen kilos.

Hon-Gyokuro is harvested by hand just once a year in spring, resulting in green leaves of incredible intensity in chlorophyll that yield a delicate green hue.

THE EVOLUTION OF UMAMI

Each year, when I visit our TWG Tea planters, I must taste and sample the Hon-Gyokuro, just like the many other varieties of tea we produce for our customers worldwide.

The taste is a perfect balance of umami with a deep, lingering aftertaste and a velvety finish with a seaweed-like aroma, known as ooi-ka: “Ooi” means shade and “ka” means aroma. This simple yet powerful word encapsulates the magic of the Hon-Gyokuro process of shading the tea from sunlight, which entices the tea leaves to produce an aroma compound called dimethyl sulfide, the catalyst for the pleasant seaweed fragrance.

Japanese teas, especially premium ones like Hon-Gyokuro, are exceptionally delicate, and how they are brewed infused can completely change their taste. Consequently, both the process of cultivating – and infusing — this magnificent green tea requires patience, affection and subtle experimentation.

During tastings, the infusion process is determined by ever-so-slightly increasing or decreasing the amount of tea leaves, the hot water temperature and the infusion time. With this in mind, we have a yearly ritual at TWG Tea. We taste the teas with the experts at our Tea Institute and our tea connoisseurs to experiment and relentlessly test the optimal infusion method for the year’s harvest.

We also go to immense lengths to gather insights from our customers who treasure our Hon-Gyokuro. By sharing their wisdom, the collective philosophy of umami continues to evolve and take on new meaning in a modern context. This is one of many reasons why the relationship between TWG Tea and our customers is so special. Our shared love of the world’s finest teas continues to blossom and grow like the teas we create.

Another interesting note on umami is the variance of opinion surrounding the flavour notes. For example, most Japanese, myself included, perceive umami akin to sweetness. However, among our international customers, many tea drinkers consistently report umami as savoury or salty to their palette. Thus, location, culture and previous taste experiences play a part in umami’s perception, evolution and mystique.

ORIGIN STORY OF HON-GYOKURO

In many ways, coming to the land of Jade Dew is like travelling into the past because to understand Hon-Gyokuro, it’s essential to learn of its origin and peer back through the pages of Japanese history. Like so many historical innovations, the origin of Hon-Gyokuro was the culmination of many other preceding achievements by artisans and entrepreneurs who contributed to the gradual evolution of tea-making in Japan.

According to many legends, at the beginning of the Kamakura period, a Zen master introduced a new tea-processing technique to Japan, called Matcha. In the Matcha method, the tea bushes were shaded from the sunlight before being harvested, steamed, and finally ground into a vivid green fine powder. This new tea process inspired further innovation. Later, during the Edo period, the Sencha method was invented in Japan, inspired by kamairi-cha, or pan-frying tea leaves.

In the Sencha method, tea leaves were also shaded before being harvested, steamed and then rolled dry, which had the magical effect of producing a light and fragrant green tea, which became hugely popular with Japanese tea drinkers of the time. With Matcha and Sencha already widely sought after, more innovations followed: Hon-Gyokuro and Gyokuro.

While many origin stories surround Hon-Gyokuro, one legend points to an accidental mix of elemental forces and new processing methods that gave life to this magnificent tea. It began in 1835, during Japan's Edo period. One day, on an exceptionally cold winter, a well-known tea merchant travelled to the countryside to visit a family’s plantation. Unusually, the family covered their tea bushes with many rice straw mats to protect the delicate leaves from frost.

After experimenting with various steaming and rolling methods, he was amazed when he tasted the tea, which possessed a near-opaque infusion with a distinct sweetness and incredible umami depth. The tea merchant rushed back to Tokyo, where Hon-Gyokuro became instantly popular. Word soon spread of this new green tea, Jade Dew, and a fresh wave of tea interest rose.

Years of experimentation followed. More tea merchants refined the process, experimenting and adapting the cultivation, shading, steaming and drying methods.

A new artform was born that continues to delight tea drinkers today.

The original Hon-Gyokuro method using rice straw mats is the most artistic and rarest. However, Gyokuro, which is also an exceptional tea we produce at TWG Tea, uses slightly different methods of processing, including different shading techniques and artificial shades.

And so it came to pass that from the Meiji to present-day Reiwa period, Hon-Gyokuro continues to delight tea drinkers as a precious treasure. With each passing year, the legend of this precious and rare tea grows throughout Japan and the world.

As I leave Japan once again, as shipments of precious Hon-Gyokuro begin their journey around the world to our customers, I’m reminded of why I take this journey each year, and a wave of satisfaction washes over me. As a lover of tea, I think it’s wonderful to think about how this art form has reached across generations. So that today, so few cups can be shared with the world. I believe this is how precious art forms stay alive. It takes the artisan and those who appreciate and savour what they create. This is the journey that TWG Tea continues to take all over the world.

TWG Tea sources the finest teas of the world — extending a hand through time to keep artforms alive.