Fresh green leaves & tea leaves

May is the season of newly harvested tea. Last year, my mother, sister, and I went to Mori-machi, a town about 30 km from Hamamatsu and visited a tea shop Ishikawaen (石川園). In April this year, we got a brochure of their products including new tea leaves and a tea bag by post.

When I visited my parents’ house on May 5, my mother took me for a drive to Mori-machi as it was the last day of the annual sale of newly harvested tea. I got out of Hamamatsu for the first time in more than two months and had a feeling of freedom in the nature. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery of mountains with fresh green leaves. There weren’t many cars running on the road in front of Ishikawaen.

Last year, they had a tent in front of the shop and offered a cup of free green tea and Ochabatake (tea garden) Yokan (thick jelly made from adzuki beans, agar, sugar, etc.) containing green tea to each visitor. But this year, they didn’t do that

and had a disinfectant at the entrance.

My mother bought some tea leaves and a box of Ochabatake Yokan.

I ate one piece of yokan at home with the tea sent from Ishikawaen in April. The yokan (5 cm x 3 cm) was dark green and had a rich flavor of green tea.

The contents of the tea bag consisted of green tea, Gyokuro (玉露), and powdered green tea. Gyokuro is the highest quality green tea. Before harvesting, its tea plants are covered to be protected from sunlight for three weeks to increase sweetness and decrease bitterness. The tea bag is intended to make tea with 400 cc of cold water. The pale green color of tea was beautiful, and the tea had a mild refreshing flavor.

Ishikawaen is a generous tea shop. Before we left, they gave another tea bag of this tea and a small bag of newly harvested tea to each of us. I think I’ll send them to my sister who has stayed in Tokyo all the time.

In Mori-machi, we also visited Daitoin Temple,

where we found thistles that can be rarely seen in the area where we live,

and went to FamilyMart. Though it is a convenience store chain, this store has a corner of locally produced vegetables and fruits.

I bought a pack of strawberries at a reasonable price. Though they were small, they tasted very good. Such simple local products always give me energy.