Samurai Black Tea

Black tea with a straight shape characteristic of sencha and gyokuro

Black tea has a curved shape due to its manufacturing process, but we thought it would be interesting to visually identify it as “Japanese” black tea by making it straight. This is the idea behind Samurai Black Tea.

Japan's unique "straight shape" tea

Sencha, made by the blue sencha method popularized by Nagatani Soen, evolved as a uniquely Japanese tea based on the value that a straight, needle-like shape is better. Gyokuro, made from tea buds grown under cover using the sencha method, also came to be regarded as having a needle-like shape.

History of Japanese Black Tea

In the early Meiji period (1868-1912), Motokichi Tada promoted the production of black tea in Japan, and its production increased, mainly for export. However, after World War II, Japanese black tea lost its price competitiveness and production declined dramatically.In the early 2000s, there was a boom in “local black tea” and “Japanese black tea,” and now high-quality black tea is also being produced.

Green tea and black tea are produced in different machines.

In order to produce straight black tea, which is a characteristic of green tea such as sencha and gyokuro, the same machine that produces sencha must be used. However, due to the strong aroma of black tea, it is forbidden to use the same machine that produces green tea to make black tea. Therefore, the only way to make straight black tea was to rub it by hand.

Straightforward tea that seized a fortuitous opportunity.

Once I tried to make tea by hand rubbing, I could make straight tea. I knew I could do it, but I could only make a very small amount of tea by hand rubbing. As it happened, my tea farm was going out of business, so I decided to try making black tea with a green tea making machine for the last time. The result is this “Samurai Black Tea.

For easy-drinking tea

Not only is the shape of the tea straighter, but it is also darker in color due to the thorough rubbing. The straight shape of the tea, which is characteristic of Japanese green teas such as Sencha and Gyokuro, makes you feel Japanese even before you drink it. The straight shape of the tea is reminiscent of a samurai’s sword, which makes it an inevitable part of the “Samurai Black Tea.

Now, please taste our limited-edition "Samurai Black Tea!"

The price is 660 yen (tax included) for a 50g bag, and up to 3 bags can be sent by Click Post.