What is meant by kuki hojicha? A kukicha (“twig tea”), or stem tea, made with parts of the tea plant that is usually not used for making the most common type of green tea such as sencha. This tea from Zenkouen is a roasted stem tea, and specifically with stems/stalks coming from their final bancha harvest. This tea has a very fragrant aroma and refreshing taste. 

Please note that roasting is performed by an outside professional, so this product is not included in the organic tea certification.

Product info

• Name: Kuki (Stems) Houjicha
• Japanese name: 茎ほうじ茶
• Ingredients: Roasted green tea leaf stems
• Region: Shimada city, Shizuoka Prefecture
• Roasting: Performed by an outside professional
• Net weight: 200 grams / 7 oz

Steeping

• Tea: 5 grams or 1 teaspoon
• Time: 1-2 minutes (Note: if you over-steep the rich aroma of this tea will be lost
• Water: 90 - 100˚C/194 - 212˚F, 200 ml. Use boiling water, no need to allow water to cool down. 
• Resteep up to 2 times or until flavor becomes too diluted (may depend on personal preference)

About the Tea Farmer

Yoshimitsu Masuda spent the first part of his adult life working in a major farming cooperative where he learned firsthand about the danger of food additives and pesticides. Returning to the family tea farm in 1992 to learn tea making from his father and fellow tea farmers in Shimada, Shizuoka, he was deeply surprised at the amount of pesticides used in tea farming.

Switching to organic farming was not an easy task; insects and disease plagued the first field he was given charge of, crop yield and leaf quality dropped, and he faced criticism from both family and other tea professionals. But he felt it was important to create tea that was safe for his own family to drink first. (Read more about Masuda-san's story here.)

Today, built upon 25+ years of organic farming experience, Masuda-san produces tea that he is proud to call both safe and delicious and is passing his tea-making skills on to his children.