Uejima Tea Farm: 3-year aged, Wazuka Sannen Bancha

Uejima: Wazuka Sannen Bancha, 3-year aged roasted bancha 

京都宇治和束茶 三年番茶

What is BANCHA? 番茶 – Bancha tea is made from leaves that have been allowed to grow to a very large size. This means the tea tends to be harvested in the summer or autumn rather than spring, the leaves are thick and have lost most of their theanine. The result of this is that there is very little umami flavour in the leaves.

These leaves are then processed in the same way as a sencha green tea. They are steamed, rolled and dried but due to the large size of the leaves, when rolled, they end up flat instead of a needle shape.

The flavour tends to be very astringent but has a lower level of caffeine than spring-harvested green teas

Sannen Bancha takes the spring first flush tea leaves harvested after they have grown large (late flushing spring leaves). Uejima-san processes these into the dry leaf, then puts them into storage for at least 3 years! After pulling the leaves out of storage, they are then roasted.

This is considered to be great for all ages because; in comparison to sencha, it has less caffeine and tannins, which can be overstimulating for some.

• Note: This tea can be enjoyed hot or cold
• Ingredients: Green tea
• Net weight: 100g bag
• Harvest: Spring
• Region: Wazuka Village, Kyoto Prefecture

About the Farmer: Noriyasu Uejima is a tea master. In the 90+ year old tea tasting competition held in Kyoto, he is the only winner to ever achieve a perfect score. Cultivating and processing some of Kyoto's finest teas. He is the 5th generation master farmer carrying on a tradition that dates back to the mid-19th century. The Ritz Carlton Hotel of Kyoto features his teas in their lineup for their guests.