Shizuoka “citea”

We are now coming back to civilization after 4 days in the tea farms. Our coming stop is Shizuoka city. We knew that Shizuoka was the main producer of green tea in Japan so we were excited to discover the main city of that prefecture. They must be endless tea houses to samples beautiful teas.

Train station landscapes. A cross , a bus and a tall mountain (Fuji !).

We were right , Shizuoka city is the Mecca of Japanese green tea. For tea lovers it must be a stop in your pilgrimage. There are so many interesting places and people to meet there. We found many cool tea houses from previous research and also from recommendations. Our first stop will be the trendy “Cha 10” , a hip café all around Matcha tea.

Soy ice cream , granola , matcha sauce and a matcha soy latte. Delicious and packed with a lot of energy. This was breakfast for us. This place was cool and trendy therefore it’s more pricey but it is worth the experience. The café sample only vegan food and good quality Matcha.

We are going to experience many cafés here so be prepared. Actually we are getting both really tired from traveling, this city break is coming at the right time.

——> Next stop , the famous Kinzaburo tea shop.

Cosy ambiance.

We could meet the owner briefly which is a famous man in the area. He actually won the tea master championship many times , he knows about tea for sure. We talked about tea blending together and the bottom line from this conversation was : in order to make good tea blending you should use your knowledges about the steaming process used for each tea and the area the tea grew. Tea from different areas will give different flavors. It’s important to understand the theory to be able to fully taste the differences and to create new flavors from this. Very interesting man.
11 free different types of tea to try. Most of them were tea blends using flowers , fruit or spices. We spend 2 hours inside and drank obviously .. a lot ! The toilet became a good friend of us afterward. We enjoyed theses tea but flavored teas are quite different that the typical Japanese green tea. The flavors in flavored teas are less deep and explosive on the tongue. We both preferred the traditional teas which are more intense at taste. It’s a bit like a concert in the mouth. Some drink or food will create different effects. Flavored tea would be great with dessert pairing where Japanese green tea are best enjoyed on their own.

Matcha Parfait and Hojicha crème brulé. The Hojicha sweet is made from roasted green tea , the flavor was super interesting.

The end of the session.

On the way back to downtown our attention got drawned by a place.

What is this place about ?

I’m sure you can easily guess. About tea right ?

This place is for tea trading. During the harvest season farmers and tea masters meet here to buy and sell products.

It was time to get a lunch. We found a sweet café.

Locomania café. The name stand for “Local hands”

Japanese vegan set meal , delicious food ! This place was so cosy. The owners told us about the philosophy of the café which is to sell local and organic food.

Urban sceneries on a rainy day.

Let’s try now a last tea place called Kissa Issa.
Genmaicha and Gyokuro tea blend with sweets. I could refill this tea pot 5 times in total.

Gyokuro is one of the strongest tea available in Japan and also the most expensive on the market. It is the same process as Sencha making but the main difference is that farmers will shade the plants 20 days prior to harvest. During this process the plants are lacking of sunlight therefore they will increase naturally their chlorophyll content which make the color as a darker green. As a result the taste will change.

Gyokuro tea is known to benefit the kidneys. Sencha benefits the liver and Bancha the skin and stomach. If theses three main types of teas are used in synergy they can prevent and even heal many diseases. Tea is the most researched medicinal plant on the planet. Ancient people used it since centuries for good reasons.

Tomorrow we will go to a tea blending workshop and learn more about green tea.
Stay tuned , stay happy and have a cup of tea !