Hachijyu Hachiya symbolizes the 88 nights of spring and marks the beginning of the spring tea harvest, also known as Shincha. While the date fell officially on May 2nd, this year’s harvest came early — on April 26, to be exact. In fact, it was the earliest that Akky-san had ever harvested in his entire tea-farming career! Fortunately, this year brought little to no frost, resulting in some very happy, and tasty, tea leaves!
We celebrated the start of May with our Hachjyu Hachiya event. It was a pleasure to be able to welcome over twenty of our tea club members for hand-picking, tea-tasting, and the making of our Hachiju Hachiya Sencha. Lunch consisted of a delicious bento along with freshly made, crispy tea leaf tempura. Although the sky was cloudy and drizzly, the day felt warm and delightful in the presence of tea club members.
This month, we were also able to welcome our international interns for the first time in two years. Intern Marie from the United States arrived on April 29th, followed by Justin, also from the United States, on May 2nd, Lou from Spain on May 6th, Saya from Mie prefecture on May 10th, and Laura from the United Kingdom on May 12th. Less than a month into their internship, they have demonstrated an inspiring passion for Japanese tea and are already experts at helping Akky-san in the tea fields!
May is a very busy month for harvesting. Each day brought along a new harvest, including our Hachijyu Hachiya harvest on May 1st, Hojicha Gold on May 3rd, Sencha of the Gushing Brook and Sencha of the Earth on May 5th, Kabuse Sencha on May 7th, and Sencha of the Wind on May 15th. All of these delicious teas were packed up this month and sent to over 700 of our tea club members around the globe!
After a long and hard month of harvesting, Akky-san and the interns relaxed at an hot spring and ate their fill of sushi. But, just as Shincha harvest ended, Bancha began. On May 27th, we began our harvest of Natural Matcha, Tencha, and Gyokuro Black Tea. We have another busy month ahead of us and many more delicious teas in the making!
For a look at this year’s new spring teas, check out our latest video on our Youtube Channel.