Japanese Tea Inspired Poetry in Shizuoka where Tea is more than a beverage.

Here in the home of Mr. Maejima-san who is a 3rd generation Tea Master and also a Gyokuro Tea Farmer and Producer who has won many top awards has a 4 foot tall tea jar at the entrance of his home. Many homes of tea farmers or producers have these large vessels which store the tea allowing oxygen to move in and out of the clay vessels  naturally, slowly ageing tea  in a very desired Only by  Natural Way.

Most people think of Japanese tea as only at it’s finest as it’s youngest,  however the wise have come to understand time allows everything, all the processes, the energy of the masters, and processors  and the plant itself to gently blend and come into its own.

This specific tea jar has a very short but very profound poem that simple says:

When my body “thirsts” I drink Sencha. . . 

When my heart “thirsts” I drink Gyokuro!

Sencha is the tea most consumed in Japan and found in every grocery store and home. It is truly an everyday substitute for water.

Of course Gyokuro on the other hand  is considered the most highly valued and revered loose leaf tea in Japan so it makes sense it would be the topic of this poem. To create Gyokuro a farmer must create a cover to place over the entire  tea fields, because it is the lack of sunshine which forces the planet to pull more for the soil and then is most often is  hand picked, because only small fields can be treated in this way, finally to produce a leaf that is extremely sweet and rich in amino acids which prompt both good health and great taste! and maybe a little drink for your heart!

Have you experienced Gyokuro yet? would you like to? Need to know how to prepare it? No problem just as the Tea Docents today!