Dobashien Tea #09: Kakegawa Series: Superior Sencha Higashiyama 東山 Dobashien Tea Company

Sencha Higashiyama has a perfect balance between sweetness, astringency, and umami. For this reason, it is Dobashien Tea Company’s most popular tea and it would not be an overstatement to state that it is a tea representing Dobashien. In comparison to the Oimatsu blend (which is also popular), the aroma of the Higashiyama can be characterised to be a bit more floral and elegant. This tea also serves well as a welcoming tea for guests. 

About Production

The most commonly drunk of all teas in Japan, sencha tea is made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. After they are picked, the leaves are take immediately to to the factory for steaming, rolling, and drying.

In Japan, a high level of skill necessary to create fine sencha. Though the processing of the leaves is entirely mechanized, the machines utilized are built to imitate the handrolling process that turns leaves into fine sencha needles. So, our tea meisters study the handrolling process in order to gain a better understanding and control over the machines used to produce professional-level sencha tea leaves.

From there, our award-winning master blenders taste teas from different farms, filter out stems and dust, sort the leaves by size and gradation, and combine the leaves to create the perfect sencha.

Product Info

• Cultivar: Blended
• Harvest: Spring
• Region: Kakegawa, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan

Vendor Info

• Name: Dobashien Tea Company
• Type: Merchant & manufacturer
• Location: 3-17-8 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0052

In 1892, Dobashien’s founder Tetsugoro Dobashi established a small tea shop in a quiet residential district on the outskirts of Tokyo. As the city expanded, the area known as Akasaka-Mitsuke became one of the city’s elite districts with ryotei, luxury Japanese restaurants, hosting meetings between powerful politicians. At these ryotei, only the best tea leaves from Shizuoka and other parts of Japan are served.