Monoucha Genmaicha ‘Tsukihime’, Ishinomaki Brown Rice Tea. Kashima Tea Garden & Yabe-en Tea Shop. Yabe-en Tea Shop

Sencha from the town of Monou in what is now Ishinomaki City brews into a deep forest green with a strong astringency. With a 400 year history of tea farming, the town of Monou is the northernmost tea region, and the field managed by Sasaki-san is the northernmost tea field in Japan.

Monoucha Genmaicha blends Sasaki-san’s sencha with toasted rice grains as well as rice cracker balls (plain and matcha flavored) for a uniquely toasted nutty flavor.

Sold by Yabe-en Tea Shop as “Datecha” 伊達茶, named after the famous samurai lord Masamune Date.

About Farmer Hiroshi Sasaki and Processor Susumu Yabe

Miyagi Prefecture was once a major tea production region with a summer climate similar to Shizuoka tea production regions (though colder in the winter). The last surviving tea field belongs to Sasaki-san who studied tea agriculture in the major tea production region of Kagoshima in the southernmost part of Japan’s main four islands. Tea Master Susumu Yabe who lives just south of Ishinomaki aids in the processing of the tea into fine sencha.

Left: Tea farmer Hiroshi Sasaki. Right: Tea master Susumu Yabe.

PRODUCT INFO

• Name: Monou Genmaicha Tsukihime
• Japanese Name: 玄米茶「月ひめ」
• Ingredients: sencha tea leaves from Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan; matcha rice cracker balls, white rice cracker balls, toasted rice grains
• Harvest period: Summer harvest, Second Flush
• Producer: Hiroshi Sasaki, Kashima Tea Garden (鹿島茶園), Monou Town, Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture. Blended by Susumu Yabe. Toasted rice – kaguya-hime cultivar, grown in Higashimatsushima, Miyagi.
• Manufacturers: Atsushi Yabe, Yabe Tea (矢部園茶舗), 2-3 Kaigandori, Shiogama City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan (Japanese site: yabe-en.com); Rice ingredients manufacturered by the Production Association of Yamotocho Kaguyahime (President: Mr. Onodera)