First Tea of the Season

With the arrival of spring, we welcome a new harvest from Shizuoka - a region long regarded for its clarity, balance, and depth in green tea. At the heart of this release is Shincha, the first tea of the season. Picked at the very beginning of the harvest, it carries a freshness that cannot be replicated later in the year - soft, vivid, and fleeting. | Saemidori 2026 80g Tin | This year’s lot is さえみどり Saemidori, a cultivar known for its unusually bright, almost blueish green colour. Its character is gentle yet expressive - low in bitterness, rounded in umami, with a clean, lingering sweetness that sits lightly on the palate. It is a tea made to be enjoyed now, at its peak. 春の茶や ひかりを含む 若葉かな Spring tea - young leaves holding light. | Hana Shizuku 80g Tin | Alongside the Saemidori, a deeper expression of spring - this seasons first Gyokuro blended with salted cherry blossoms. The leaves are steamed longer, resulting in a fuller body - soft, almost velvety, carrying the warmth of the season. Interwoven are whole blossoms, traditionally cured in salt and plum vinegar, releasing a subtle salinity that lifts the tea rather than weighs it down. It is not overtly floral, but atmospheric - like petals carried on sea air. 潮風に ほどけてゆくや桜色 In the sea breeze, the blush of blossoms unravels Together, this seasons new teas speak to two moments of spring the first light, and what follows after.