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  • 'Olive' Houjicha Yabukita
  • 'Olive' Houjicha Yabukita

'Olive' Houjicha Yabukita

Regular price $42.00
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NAME: Olive

STYLE: Houjicha (Roasted Green Tea)

FARMER: Oizumi Dai

TEA FARM:  Dokodemosora 

CULTIVAR: Yabukita

ORIGIN: Nachikatsuura, Kumano, Wakayama

STEAMING: Chumushi (Medium Steam)

HARVEST: Ichibancha (First Flush) 2025

ELEVATION: 300m

TERROIR: Mountain tea, organically grown

TASTING NOTES: This is a fantastic lightly roasted houjicha from Oizumi who makes a first flush premium style. Its common throughout Japan to find second or even third flush houjicha, often sometimes treated as a bit of an afterthought, and not made with premium tea leaves. However this fantastic yabukita is just such a fresh style, bursting with character. 

The appearance is a lovely golden brown. There's an extremely strong classic houjicha aroma omitting from this tea. You've got spices, cloves and cinnamon, a luscious nutty hazelnut aroma and even a whiff of dried oregano. The light roast of the houjicha is reminiscent of coffee, just that little bit of bitterness shining through. Definitely a fresher style of houjicha. 
The tea factory at Dokodemosora is so old school. There are no fancy computers zapping stems from tea leaves (these machines exist), instead all the machinery is beautifully old and loved. As a result, the teas have a rustic charm to them. This is shown by the fact there are some stems found in this houjicha, which actually add a lovely oaky tannin. Really rounding out the tea.
Cracking houjicha from Oizumi. 

MEET DAI OIZUMI ~ DOKODEMOSORA

Dai Oizumi started Dokodemosora Tea Farm 15 years ago after buying a 50 year old tea farm high up in the sacred mountains of Wakayama, not far from the world heritage site Nachi Falls.
Dokodemosora, meaning ‘door to the sky’ is a completely naturally farmed oasis, nestled 300m above sea level, Oizumi-san’s tea farms are like little hidden secrets. 
All farmed completely organically with zero use of pesticides or herbicides, only natural fertilizers and cultivated in an old school factory. 
Specialising in tamaryokocha, which is a rare style of Japanese tea known for its "ball" shaped leaves, Dai also makes beautiful houjicha and wakoucha, all from the yabukita cultivar. 

WAKAYAMA

Located in the southern part of the Kii Peninsula, its mountainous terrain, fog, and large temperature variations are ideal for growing tea, with a history that dates back to the Muromachi Period.The region is also famous for the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage, and tea has historically been served to the pilgrims.
A city of World Heritage Sites featuring temples and shrines centuries old, Wakayama is a showcase of traditional Japanese culture.
A much smaller and lesser known region for tea, however its close proximity to Uji and Mie mean its ideal for tea production and will be an area to watch.