Let's talk about Tokyo, or rather the Department of Metropolitan Tokyo, because there is no such thing as "city of Tokyo. This is a department composed of 23 districts, a number of localities on islands offshore in the Pacific, and west of the 23 districts, spread widely in the mountains, Tama District 多 摩 地域, composed of many towns and villages.
The image that we want to give Tokyo abroad is quite wrong. Skyscrapers, crossroads Black world .... this is not the true face of Tokyo, this reflects only a small part of this metropolis, around a few major stations. The rest, and I speak from the center of the 23 districts, seems like a big cluster of village, a huge residential area, quiet, with buildings rarely exceeding the 2-story, we came across very few people, some children back to school, old, cats ......
My advice to travelers in Tokyo is next, "stay away from large centers, lose yourself on foot and discover the true face of Tokyo.
That is amazing but the district is even more Tama is the campaign, and frankly the mountain in the far west. Yet, officially, that is Tokyo.
Why is it that just tell it all in my little folder Shinchi 2010? The astute reader will have understood is that I put my hand on a sencha, japanese tea cultivated again in Tokyo, Tama, a city of Tachikawa 立 川 市. Near the center, Tachikawa still seems to me there a place urbanized, at least, not at all in the mountains.
Tokyo is a small growing area , 144 hectares, against 19,200 for Shizuoka. We are not talking of "Tokyo-cha, no, the tea produced in Tokyo is called Sayama-cha 狭 山茶, like that produced in Saitama, just north of the capital.
I stumbled upon a small event, exposing the agricultural department of Tokyo. A tea merchant was there now. Different teas available all showed a very beautiful appearance, the most expensive was picked by hand, but finally the "version" below which marched my choice because the cultivar , Sayama-kaori, while the others were all conventional and unsurprising Yabukita.
Sayama-kaori a cultivar is a little early which was developed by the Experiment Station of Saitama tea and registered in 1971. This variety is known very soon a great success, propelled by its qualities on the front of the stage cultivars sencha. His greatest quality, great resistance to cold, even very important criterion in Shizuoka. The crops are abundant, and the resulting tea is very fragrant. However, in recent years, success tends to decrease ... I must say that this cultivar is far from being free of defects: an astringency which tends to do too much out, the leaves tend to blacken and the liqueur reveal brown highlights, and great weakness to disease. It nevertheless remains the 4th or 5th most of the cultivars used, especially after Yabukita, Yutaka-midori, midori-oku.
Frankly, this tea again Tokyo has managed to avoid the shortcomings of the Sayama-kaori.
is a Sencha Fuka-mushi that some will call Chu-mushi , time of stoving medium seen by the current patterns. Little powder, the leaves remain throughout a beautiful needle-shaped, very thin and uniform. The color is a beautiful deep green, without reproach, with the chandelier. The colors of the assembly is disrupted, it's not for lack of a uniform shade leaves themselves, but rather by a few thin rods passed through the yard.
beyond their visual appearance, these beautiful leaves emit a sweet, tart and pastry, which really puts "appetite". This gorgeous perfume is not in itself unique, but it is very pronounced, powerful net. This is by no cons so common ..... can be is this really the highlight of Sayama-kaori made carefully.
After infusion, we see a green liquor, which does not pull on the yellow, and even less about the brown (come on, let's say it's better to pay attention to brewing time, approaching the minute, perhaps, let's be honest, we can vaguely see these small defect kaori-Sayama). On this point, nothing to roll over, but it's still a good level.
45 seconds, this is a time of infusion which seems appropriate. He keeps a nice color and is more than enough to clear the taste of this tea. Certainly astringent but rich sweetness. A very rich flavor, freshness and roundness overlap with delight, and the aftertaste that remains in the mouth fizzled.
Friand recent times sencha that leave to revel in what I call it a "luxurious astringency", this tea is one of my biggest blow of heart for several months. With a very high quality for its price (1500 yen), it is also a small rarity, a tea "made in Tokyo" a big surprise.
With considerable delay, the first 2010 crop reaches its end. The Sayama arrive gradually, Uji still dragging a little leg, but it is no longer just a matter of days ...... remains to come teas Murakami, from the Department of Niigata, northern boundary of economic culture of tea in Japan.
This was not without difficulty this year, but still (delay, courtyard market very, very expensive, small quantities, some tea of good quality, etc.), teas are great this year emerged ... ... remains then to fight to try to convey these treasures to the Japanese, who certainly too many (and growing) not knowing what they are missing! ...... and hope that next year will still be better than this year.
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