Kyobancha is the traditional bancha of Kyoto! This particular one is grown organically in the true traditional nature, carries both the USDA and JAS logos, and comes from a grower who has been making organic green tea in Kyoto since the early 1970's.

To produce this Kyobancha the grower harvests the coarser mature leaves, along with the leaf stalks and stems, in both March and October of each year. The leaf material is then lightly steamed, and then either sun dried or machine dried depending on the weather. Once sufficiently dried the leaf material is then put away into storage and allowed to age at room temperature for a prolonged period of time.

When a batch of this tea is requested by us the grower takes a selection of aged leaves out of storage and undertakes a final processing stage which involves visual inspection of the leaf material, some sorting, and blending. It's also during this final processing stage that the tea leaves get their specialty roasting. It's this roasting which gives this tea its nostalgic comforting roasted aroma when prepared.

The taste of this Kyobancha is clean, smooth, sweet, refreshing, and perfectly roasted without any astringency or bitterness. It's a very comforting Japanese green tea that promotes good health and well-being and is also very low in caffeine. It's the type of tea you can casually sip on throughout the day and will simply never interfere with your daily routine. It's also very easy to brew, and pairs well with food, so if that is what you are looking for it's an absolutely excellent choice!

Kyobancha can be prepared in a big kyusu with boiling water, however the actual traditional way to prepare it is on a stove top in a kettle Just put some leaves in the kettle's infuser basket, fill the kettle up with water to cover the leaves, bring the water to a boil, then turn down the heat to low and simmer the leaves for around 5-10 minutes then turn off the stove. After that, remove the kettle's infuser basket which contains the leaves and it is ready to serve. If you make a big kettle full of it, you can continue to reheat it on the stove top or even just drink it at room temperature throughout the day. It can also be prepared and served cold in the summer months. (Note: If you do not have a stove-top kettle a pan and a strainer for pouring the tea through will work just as well).