PREORDER available June 🍵 2026 #0578.S2 Withered Sencha Green Tea - #01 Yume Wakaba, Single Cultivar by Okutomi Tea Garden

From 7-time Minister's Award Winning, 15th generation tea farmer Masahiro Okutomi (Okutomi Tea Garden, Sayama, Saitama), a single cultivar sencha green tea that has been withered slightly for a few hours to impart a floral aroma. This type of tea is known as ichoucha - "withered tea" - and the processing technique is borrowed from oolong tea processing. During withering (a few hours between harvest and before steaming), the leaves undergo a very slight amount enzymatic oxidization, the same process used to create oolong and black teas. Doing this adds floral notes to the leaf. Ingredients: Green tea Cultivar: Yume Wakaba Harvest: Spring Region: Sayama, Saitama The Cultivar - Yume Wakaba The Yume Wakaba cultivar was registered in 2006, a cross of Yabukita and an unnamed cultivar with the designation Saitama #9. The cultivar is recognized for having a strong floral aroma after withering, and a strong umami flavor making it suitable for gyokuro as well.