Tea trees themselves
contain L-Theanine (a kind of amino acid) , which creates Umami savory flavor. Once
they are exposed in the sun, it turns to catechin, a component of astringency. In
other words, when the teas are not exposed in the sun, L-Theanine remains in
the leaves instead of creating catechin.
So, some Japanese
green teas like Matcha, Gyokuro and Kabuse-cha, which have more umami, are
covered for a certain period of the time after new buds start to appear around
April.
Then, how are the
teas covered? There are 3
different ways:
1)
“Honzu”
covering (traditional way)
Reed screens are
spread on the shelf made with logs and bamboo. Later on, straws are spread on
it. It keeps low temperature and high humid, which is a good condition for tea to
grow slowly and nicely, creating high-quality tea. It requires a great deal of
labor and time.
 |
| When you go inside, you feel nice and cool. |
 |
| Some straws fall from the top. It is OK. They will turn to soil and help for tea grow well. |
2)
“Kanreisha”
covering
Due to lack of
material and labor shortage, black synthetic cloth often known as “kanreisha”
is used to cover recently instead of Honzu. The cloths have two layers to
create breathability.
3)
Direct
covering
This is the
quickest and most economical way. It is covered, but compare to other two ways
above, tea receive sunlight more directly and it is poorly ventilated and gets
easily hot. So in terms of quality, the tea are not as great as Honzu or
Kanreisha covering teas, but more available in terms of price.
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| Instead of chemical fiber, this eco-friendly paper covering is developing. It is not used practically yet. |
