Discover the secret behind Japan’s delicious tea！ Visit Kyushu tea plantations and raw tea factories live

▲ The first harvest of the year in April is called “Ichibancha” (first flush), known as spring tea in Taiwan.

Reported and photographed by Jiang Yanting / Kyushu

Fresh tea bags are produced Up！ It's truly a lucky opportunity to step into a raw tea factory and witness the entire tea-making process. From the tea farmers' harvest onward, every step is handled with care. Our reporter visited“Ijiri Tarō Tea Garden”to show you how tea is produced—come along on an aromatic tea-hunting journey！

% Both tea gardens have a harvesting season from around April to November.

First, let’s introduce the two types of tea most loved by Japanese people: the first is sencha, and the other is bancha. There are slight differences based on production methods. Sencha is relatively simple to make; typical sencha is “lightly steamed sencha,” which is only steamed for 30 to 40 seconds before being rolled and dried. However, since the Edo period, Shizuoka Prefecture has produced “deep steamed sencha,” which extends the steaming time to 60 to 90 seconds. Although the leaves become softer, the flavor emerges more quickly during brewing compared to “lightly steamed sencha,” and the tea leaves are bluish-green in color.

% Tech Tea Type

Roasted tea belongs to the bancha category and is the second most popular tea in Japan. It’s made from the stems and stalks leftover from lightly steamed sencha, so it contains no leaves—only stems. After undergoing high-temperature roasting and baking, it turns brown in color and has a strong aroma.

% Emergency Tea Type

As modern people pay more attention to health, organic tea farms are gradually emerging in Japan. However, it takes three consecutive years without using any chemical fertilizers or pesticides to obtain organic certification. One such product is Kurogashi Tea Quest, which will be launched in Taiwan on May 4.

% Both ??┝ Plant-based elevated packaging design ?? is slightly smaller.