Tea Information From 日本茶BANK
2022.05.31 Update
From the Niyodo Blue Mountains @ Niyodo Tea and Riguriyama Tea (Agawa-gun, Kochi Prefecture) by Kunitomo Noen
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Origin of the name "Riguriyama-cha
When it comes to Kochi, one often hears about "Gosekicha" (Goishi tea). It is a rare tea made by lactobacillus fermentation. In this age of affluence, more and more people drink tea for their health. Tosa tea, not Kochi tea, is more appropriate. Tosa tea, not Kochi tea. There are many fine regional brands of Tosa tea. There are many regional brands, such as Goishi tea from Otoyo Town in the Yoshino River basin, Niyodo tea, Sagawa tea, and Ikegawa tea from the upper Niyodo River basin, Shimanto tea and Tsunoyama tea from the Shimanto River basin, and so on. Black tea and Tosa Aburi tea are also available. Kunitomo Noen's tea garden is located in the upper reaches of the Niyodo River, so it is called "Niyodo tea," but Kunitomo calls his tea "Riguriyama tea. (The Niyodo River is a big, blue, clear, clean stream that runs through this area.)
"Rigur" is a Tosa dialect word meaning "particular.
In other words, "Riguriyama-tea" means "particular mountain tea.
Riguriyama-tea" is straight and authentic mountain tea.
It is a tea with a special feeling of "only here! It is a tea with a special feeling.
Visit to the production site of "Riguriyama Tea
Kunitomo Noen's tea plantation is located in the center of Shikoku, in an area deep in the mountains that was once called Tosa Mominokiyamago. The Niyodo River upstream is simply beautiful. The Niyodo River upstream is simply beautiful, and you can understand why it is called the "clear blue river.
Kunitomo Farm is also JAS certified organic.
The steep mountain fields, plowed with sukis and hoes after the burning of the fields, are strewn with large rocks.
The tea roots are wrapped around the rock and seem to be sucking up the ingredients of the rock with gusto. It is hard to tell which is the tea tree.
It is a very premium tea, grown only with "kaya manure," dried whole awn grass, and oil cake as fertilizer, and hand-picked only once, at the tip of the sprout and the two leaves below it.
There are other fields that are machine picked. Still so steep....
Kunitomo Noen's tea is the very essence of the blessings of the mountains.
The water from the Niyodo River, the mountain trees, the mountain soil, the wind running through the valley, and the people who tend the tea trees, pick the tea, and make the tea, are the crystallization of the flavors that live in the area.
Kunitomo Noen's special tea
Kunitomo-san's tea is "kettle roasted tea" and is golden in color. It is a vigorous tea leaf that can be drunk for many roasts. The flavor changes with each successive roast.
There are various types of tea. Kettle roasted tea from each field, as well as Bancha, Roasted tea, Black tea, etc. ...
Beautiful factory with unique equipment design. There is really not a single speck of dust.
There are a number of varieties of unique, wild-crafted kama-yori tea, each with its own distinctive name, such as "Ryu," "Iwakura," and "Yotambo for Yotambo. Incidentally, "yotambo" means drunk in the Tosa dialect. The name was derived from the fact that the taste is so strong and robust that even a drunken person would be surprised.
"Mountain tea grown in a form closer to nature is made into tea using traditional methods with a lot of time and care.
It is not easy to inherit, protect, express and convey such a method, which can be called the origin of kama-firi-cha, as a product. There may be only Mr. Kunitomo and a few others in Japan. No, it may be that Mr. Kunitomo is the only one.
Mr. Kunitomo reads many books and researches tea every year. Even when making black tea, which did not exist before, he learns on his own and tries many times to make it.
His enthusiasm is unbelievable. It is mind-boggling.
From now on, rather than making new teas, he will probably focus on how to make the existing teas? How can we further improve the quality? I think they are going to challenge themselves in this area.
The tea here has a more mature aroma and a deeper flavor when it is aged a little.
Mr. Kunitomo also has a beautiful hermitage called "Seijinso no Sou" at the top of the mountain.
There is no one who is so deep and so pure about tea. This tea is made by such a person. No wonder it tastes so good.