JAPAN: KAMAIRICHA TEA GARDEN BY KADOTA IN MIYAZAKI
Junji and Yusuke Kadota’s traditional Kamairicha tea garden is located in Miyazaki Prefecture on Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands. Their friendship with the neighbouring Morimoto organic tea garden family has existed for many decades and has influenced the history of Junji and Yusuke Kadota’s tea garden.
A family tea garden in miniature
Junji and Yusuke Kadota’s tea garden is really tiny compared to other tea gardens today; its total size is 3.2 hectares. By way of comparison, many family-run tea gardens are between 4 and 10 hectares in size, while large farms can easily cover 100 hectares or more.
Careful manual labour with historical tools
Since Junji and Yusuke Kadota carry out many of the steps in the kamairicha production by hand, they wouldn’t be able to process the freshly harvested tea leaves in larger quantities. Though the quantity of kamairicha rarities produced by the Kadotas is so small, during the tea production period father and son have to split up into day and night shifts in order to produce kamairicha using their historic equipment over a period of several weeks.
Kamairicha tea bushes
The leaves come from several small tea garden plots. Some are right next to the small factory where the Kadota family’s home is located, while others are a few kilometres away at a slightly higher altitude. Some of the Kadotas‘ tea garden plots contain typical kamairicha varieties such as Yamanami and Zairai, as well as the Yabukita variety.
A unique treasure trove of tradition
From the point of view of the Kadotas as well, the way tea is processed here is a valuable treasure, since it is now unique in Japan. The cast iron equipment used here is now between 50 and 100 years old. The processes are reduced to the essentials. There are no conveyor belts that transport the tea from one drying drum to the next. All this is done by hand.
Involving all their senses in tea production
They use all their senses to check the structure, odour, moisture and elasticity of the tea leaves. This allows them to decide how long each individual drying step should be carried out. When they decide that the tea leaves have reached the desired stage, they remove the leaves from the respective cast iron kama and place them in the next device. Junji and Yusuke Kadota are absolutely focussed and calm in their work. Both know exactly what they are doing. They are one with the tea they produce.
100-year-old equipment from the collection of the Morimoto family
The highlight of the processing facility are of course the 100-year-old hon-gama (“real kama”), three of which were owned by Shigeru Morimoto’s father Ryotaro Morimoto. When Ryotaro Morimoto stopped making kamairicha many decades ago and switched to sencha production, he gave the old hon-gama to the Kadota family, who still use them today. Ryotaro Morimoto and Junji’s father still fired the old hon-gama with wood. However, as the smoke and the procurement of the proper firewood always caused difficulties, Junji and Yusuke Kadota now use a gas flame to heat all their hon-gama. This is the only change the two have made to the old factory.
Kamairicha TEAS from Junji and Yusuke Kadota in Miyazaki
KURI – KADOTA KAMAIRICHA (Organic)
Kuri is the Kadota family’s first tea which found its way to Europe. In harmony with the very traditional way of manufacturing, the leaves mainly come from old seed-grown tea bushes (Zairai). Kuri is a tea that fascinates with its balance and mildness. The infusion is clear and light-yellow.
For a full experience of the aroma and taste of this tea, we recommend a different approach to infusion than in the case of steamed Japanese green teas: an infusion temperature of approx. 80 degrees, a steeping time of less than 1 minute, and the use of rather few leaves are recommended.
KADOTA MUKASHI TOKUJOU (Organic)
For the Mukashi Tokujou the Kadotas only use the leaves of old tea seed-grown bushes (Zairai). This reflects the traditional way of production of Kamairicha.
Thanks to the early harvest time in the year (1st harvest), this fine tea impresses with its fresh and subtle sweetness, its balance and its mildness. The infusion is clear and light-yellow.
KADOTA ARASAKI TOKUJOU (Organic)
A flowery and fragrant Tokujou with a clear infusion, fine sweetness and a long-lasting finish. For this unique tea Junji and Yusuke Kadota use the Yama-Yabukita from the hillside Arasaki.
The final heating for this Tokujou is applied in an exceptionally subtle way. It is just strong enough to make this tea storable. Thus, its taste preserves the nuances of the Kadota Aracha Shincha (see below).
ARACHA SHINCHA BY KADOTA (Organic)
As the name already indicates, this is a tea which was not finally heated. This means, the final heating step „hi-ire“ has not taken place. As a result the Aracha Shincha from Kadota comes with a lot of freshness, like it should be expected from a real Shincha.
Yet, the most remarkable and impressive feature is the fresh, florally fruity scent which emerges from the leaves when they are infused. It evoces the fragrance of a very light, green Oolong. This association is justified because Kadota wither the freshly harvested leaves for a while before heating them. But importantly, the withering has to be stopped at the right time, as long as the leaves are still absolutely green. This means, no fermentation can be detected with the eyes.
A really fascinating tea, of which only a few kg are available each year.
KADOTA ARASAKI KOUCHA (Organic)
For the Kadota Arasaki Koucha only the leaves of the Yama-Yabukita bushes from the hillside Arasaki are used.
Thanks to the harvest time in the year (2nd harvest) the Yama-Yabukita bushes have already bathed in a wealth of sunrays. The fresh leaves express this in the form of catechins. These catechins are the basis for the fruity-fragrant aroma of this black tea, which is produced through fermentation of the catechins.
Kamairicha Teas from other Kamairicha Tea Gardens in Miyazaki
SAE MIDORI KAMAIRICHA (bio)
The family grows an incredibly range of different tea bush varieties, 18 in total. For the Sae Midori Kamairicha they mainly use the Sae Midori variety, which is known for its intense green colour, its mildness and sweetness. It is one of the varieties which are often used for the production of gyokuro.
The mild and sweet character of the Sae Midori is well-represented in this tea, which is produced by dry-heating in a Kama, yet shows impressively vibrant green leaves without any roasted nuances. The skillfully conducted heating process rather gives the tea a certain mildness and well-roundedness.
MINAMI SAYAKA OOLONG KAMAIRICHA (bio)
For this tea, only leaves of the Minami Sayaka variety are used, which develops a phantastic floral scent due to the very light fermentation. The production of this tea is mostly done by hand, therefore only very small quantities are produced every year.