Organic Zairai Withered Kamairicha

Organic Zairai Withered Kamairicha

Regular price $18.00 Sale price $16.00 Save 11%
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  • 50 grams
  • Single Origin | Single Cultivar
  • Ships from the United States
  • In stock, ready to ship
  • Inventory on the way
This award-winning kamairicha is made from seed-grown tea plants and was withered before processing, giving it a powerful and intoxicating floral aroma.

Cultivar: Zairai

Region: Haruno, Isagawa, Shizuoka

Producer: Osada Seicha

Harvested: May, 2024

Elevation: 300-500m

Picking: Handheld Machine

Brewing Instructions

Tea/Water Ratio

2g per 100ml of water
(.07oz per 3.5oz)

Water Temperature

85º C (185ºF)

Brewing Time

60 seconds

Meet the Producer

Osada Seicha (おさだ製茶)

Cultivar: Zairai

Confusingly, Zairai is not a cultivar, but rather a term used to refer to ‘native’ or seed-grown tea plants of unknown ancestry. In China, these types of plants are called quntizhong, and in other industries they are called landraces or heirloom varietals.

Throughout most of tea’s history, tea was grown from seed, producing genetically unique plants, each with its own taste, shape, budding time, yield, and disease resistance. Today, however, most tea is grown through clonal propagation of cultivars through cutting, producing genetically identical bushes. Zairai gardens often have higher disease resistance due to their genetic diversity, but this same diversity makes them harder to harvest, resulting in significantly reduced yield and consistency, which is why most farms in Japan switched over to cultivar production in the 20th century.

However, tea produced from Zairai bushes tends to have a deeper flavour, resulting from the deep-growing roots of the older seed-grown plants, along with the natural ‘blend’ produced by these diverse plants.

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We're working with small tea farmers who are passionate about their craft, and working towards a goal⁠—whether it's to preserve and perfect age-old traditions, to experiment and push the boundaries of Japanese tea, or to create a more sustainable and biodynamic future for the industry. 
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