Japan Tea Festival in 2018 will be hold on 29th and 30th September in Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Trade Center TAITO-KAN.
This event is organized by three prominent tea stores in Japan. Gclef, Tea Break and Silver Pot. These specialty tea shops have organized some events such as Single Origin Tea Festival.
Although there are no information about the exhibitors at the present time, based on the similar previous event “Japanese Black Tea Festival in Owari Asahi” on 2017, many specialists participated as exhibitors. They would exhibit their specialty teas and demonstrate their skillful brewing on the event in 2018 too.
The result of “Japanese Black Tea Festival in Owari Asahi” shows that the prominent tea farmers and blenders will delight many visitors with their wide variety of sophisticated teas. Of course, tea magicians in the United Tea Estates of Shizuoka served their fantastic teas for visitors. I’d like to introduce the awarded tea farmers, who is expected to exhibit in 2018.
1. YAMAMOTO Morihiko (SAMURAI Teafarm on Makinohara upland)
Mr.Yamamoto is a tea farmer having sophisticated skill producing various fantastic teas on Makinohara upland. In this 2 years, he won various prizes. At the “Black Tea Conference in HandShake Lounge”, his roasted black tea of 1st flush “Haruzumi Baisen” was elected as the best prize. At the “Japanese Black Tea Festival in Owari Asahi”, he also won the gold award.
Beautiful amber color of each infusion attracts us. The left one is “Haruzumi Baisen”. As implied by the liquor color, the texture of left one is mild. The right one is “Natsuzumi Kocha” – summer plucked black tea. Its deeper amber color indicates its denser texture. I like this one too.
He is lineage of Samurai worked for Tokugawa Shogunate, who developed Makinohara upland for tea production since the end of Edo period. “Samurai Teafarm” implies the history of the development of tea plantation on Makinohara upland. The online shopping page of “Samurai Teafarm, Makinohara Yamamotoen” retails his specialty teas domestically.
2. MIURA Yoshinobu (Kanetou Miura-en on Makinohara upland)
Mr. Miura has also been awarded many time on various occasions. His Sencha green tea and black tea have been elected as platina award in Japanese Tea Award 2016 and 2017. Besides his black tea won the jury’s special award in Japanese Black Tea Festival in Owari Asahi.
Black teas produced by Kanetou Miura-en. The left one “Premiun Spring Hand Pluck” is prized 1st place in the tea competition in Shizuoka prefecture.
Mr. Miura discussed with Mr. Muramatsu, who is the master craftsman of Japanese black tea in Shizuoka. His black tea was loved by not only customers but also tea professionals.
3. IMURA Norio (IMURA-EN in Shimada Tea Estate)
Mr. Imura is one of the most motivated young tea farmers in Shizuoka. He has developed the specia black tea having peach-like aroma. He won the gold prize in Japanese Black Tea Festival in Owari Asahi.
We can buy his aromatic black tea on “Gclef” in Tokyo.
4. Mr. Kawaguchi (Shinkoju in Saitama pref.)
Shinkoju has the greatest skill to process and refine crude teas of multihued cultivars according to their characteristics of each cultivar. The owner of Shinkoju, Mr. Kawaguchi has a quite wide range of knowledges about various tea cultivars, such as flavor, tannin content, leaf thickness, suitability for withering, property of aroma generation and maturation in black tea processing.
