Chiran Town

Chiran (知覧) is a small historic town town in the middle of the Satsuma Peninsula in Kagoshima Prefecture.  Within the town there is a preserved samurai district with houses and gardens that date back about 250 years. Chiran's isolated location at the southern end of Kyushu has allowed the district to keep much of its historical character intact.

Cultivation Notes

Tea cultivation in Chiran dates back to the 12th century, with more extensive cultivation beginning in 1872.  The region benefits from a mild climate and fertile soil enriched by volcanic ash from Sakurajima, which contributes to the high quality of its tea.  Chiran tea, the product of natural, generative and organic farming, is celebrated for its taste, color, and aroma.

Unlike modern cultivars that grow from clones or cuttings, zairai tea trees grow from seeds and have long tap roots that draws their nutrients from the rich and deep volcanic soil.  

Many of these tea plants date back several hundred years.  Each zairai tea tree has a distinct personality, different from the parent trees.  

Shading, or Kabuse, involves covering the tea fields with a black net when 2 or 3 new leaves begin to sprout.  This shading process reduces sunlight exposure, preventing amino acids from converting into catechins.  As a result, the steeped tea has less bitterness and astringency, and a richer, deeper umami flavor.  Additionally, the tea develops a vibrant green color, a distinctive and highly desirable characteristics of specialty teas such as Sencha, Matcha, and Gyokuro.  

Our Kabuse Sencha Zairai is JAS certified organic [JAS stands for Japanese Agricultural Standards, which are guidelines set by the Japanese government for organic agricultural products. These standards ensure that products are of high quality and produced sustainably, without the use of chemical synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. To be JAS certified, products must pass a strict test conducted by a third-party organization recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries.]

• Aroma of freshly mowed lawn.
• Prolonged sweet aftertaste strong savory umami, with a discreet and elegant lift of  bitterness and astringency.
• Deep, rich taste will last through several steeping, with surprising change in taste from one steeping to the next
• Caffeine level:  Medium