{"product_id":"leaf-tea-houjicha-tenbone","title":"Tembone Hojicha (Uji, Kyoto)","description":"\u003cp\u003e Kyoto Uji | Tembone Hojicha\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Color of tea water Left: 1st brew Right: 2nd brew\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\"Tembone Hojicha\" is made by roasting the stalks of the finest hand-picked tencha grown in Uji. For this reason, it is a very rare hojicha that not only has the fragrant aroma of roasted tea, but also the umami and sweetness of tencha, which is the raw material of matcha.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Hand-picking the finest leaves by eye for high-grade matcha—work long done by the \"tsumi-ko,\" the women who pick the tea—is hard, low-paid labor, and fewer and fewer people take it on. What caught the eye of YUGEN's owner were the tencha stems, which were always thrown away. Other regions make hojicha from stems, but in Kyoto, hojicha was mostly bancha made by roasting autumn leaves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e When we tried roasting the stems of hand-picked, high-grade tencha, we found them delicious: fragrant, mellow, and full of umami.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e It seemed a waste that something this good was being discarded. And if the stems could become a product, a little more could go back to the growers and the pickers. That is why we have made this hojicha since the day we opened.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Enjoy a special hojicha that you can't taste anywhere else.\u003cbr\u003e It is highly recommended to enjoy it as a cold tea.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Tencha\"\u003cbr\u003e Raw material for matcha.\u003cbr\u003e The tea leaves are cultivated in almost the same way as gyokuro. For about 20 days before harvest, the entire tea plantation is covered to block direct sunlight. The cultivation method suppresses catechins and produces theanine, a flavor component. After the tea leaves are harvested, they are steamed and dried without being kneaded to become tencha.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe name \"Tembone\" comes from tencha, the leaf used for matcha, and from the stems themselves, which look like little bones: \u003cem\u003eten\u003c\/em\u003e from tencha, \u003cem\u003ebone\u003c\/em\u003e from the Japanese word for bone.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"YUGEN ONLINE STORE","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":14700860670025,"sku":"A-020701","price":65.0,"currency_code":"MOP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0057\/1044\/6665\/products\/YUGENtenbonehoji.jpg?v=1639291726","url":"https:\/\/www.yugen-kyoto.com\/en-han\/products\/leaf-tea-houjicha-tenbone","provider":"YUGEN ONLINE STORE","version":"1.0","type":"link"}