The tea picking season

In the beggining of May, we start picking Sencha leaves and about two weeks later, Gyokuro. The first harvest of the year which is called the New tea (or the First tea) is highest in the quality of aroma and flavor.

◎ PICKING TEA LEAVESIN THE SHADED FIELD

Be careful to ・・・

○ Make sure the tree belongs to the shaded area

○ Start picking at the bottom and move upward to end at the top

○ Pick only the top three leaves leaving a small leaf just below them

○ Remove it if you have picked it

○ Watch out for old leaves and other foreign substance which may find their way into your basket. Throw them away on finding them.

○ Put no pressure on the leaves in the basket

○ Start processing promptly

　

In the unshaded field, Sencha tea leaves are generally machine-picked.

◎WHICH IS BETTER, THE NEW TEA OR THE MATURED TEA

Thanks to the development of a low temperature storage technology it is now possible to keep the flavor and quality of the New tea throughout the year. In former days, the New tea leaves were put in earthenware pots and kept in tea storehouses or icehouses to preserve them as fresh as possible.
The tea that "Spent a summer in the pot" has naturally lost some of its fresh aroma but has become more mellow in flavor and has acquired the richness that only a maturing process can bring out in the New tea. This is why "The autumn tea is said to taste good."

　