Tea Farmer Shinichi Kihara SKH003: Naturally Grown Kyobancha 京番茶 (Winter-roasted green tea leaves) Shinichi Kihara

Unique to the city of Kyoto from which it gets name, Kyobancha is harvested from tea leaves and twigs that have matured over the winter months and then roasted producing a very woodsy flavor.

Often called ‘bancha for babies’ (akachan bancha 赤ちゃん番茶) because it has almost no caffeine, it is also called ‘spring bancha’ (haru bancha 春番茶) because it is harvested in March from winter matured leaves. Rarely offered outside of Japan, it is even quite rare to find it in supermarkets in Japan as well.

Shinichi Kihara’s Kyobancha gives off a smoky aroma, but surprises you with a flavor that is both smoky as well as sweet. (See our steeping notes.)

Please note that because the leaves are unrolled, they are quite bulky, resulting in a higher shipping price than 200g of other tea. This price is built into the product price rather than the shipping fee. If buying in amounts larger than what is listed, please contact us for more accurate pricing.

Tea Stories

One of the Yunomi staff was joking about how the kyobancha tea leaves look like dried leaves you might find in your garden, right before she (and she shall remain anonymous) took a sip and exclaimed, ‘Ah! Oishii! (Delicious!)’ — You can’t judge a book by its cover…

Product Info

• Ingredients: Green tea
• Harvest: March (of leaves that have grown over the winter). Note that new harvests are steamed and dried, then kept in storage. The “freshness” is determined by the freshness of the roast, and the tea is roasted when we order from Kihara-san. 
• Region: Wazuka Village, Kyoto