This month we travel to the village of Hoshino (星野村), tucked in the mountains of Yame (八女) on the island of Kyūshū (九州), for a Karigane (雁ヶ音) brought to us by Tsuji Baikōen (辻梅香園).

A Stem Tea from Yame

Karigane is a stem tea, made from the slender stalks and leaf veins sorted out of high-grade Gyokuro (玉露) and Sencha (煎茶) during refinement. After steaming and rolling, the finished tea is passed through a colour sorter and then over fine sieves, where the lighter stems are separated from the darker leaves. The stems were once treated as a by-product, but tea drinkers eventually realised they carry more sweetness and umami than the leaves themselves, along with a clean, fresh fragrance.

This particular Karigane is built from the off-cuts of premium leaves grown in Hoshino, one of Japan's most respected Gyokuro villages. In the cup, you can taste that origin clearly: a soft umami, a touch of natural sweetness, and a refreshing finish that keeps the tea light. The colour is a pale jade-green, almost translucent. The leaves themselves are an unusual mix of needle-shaped pieces and short, lighter stems that look more like dry grass than tea.

1904, the Dawn of Gyokuro in Hoshino

Tea has been grown in Hoshino since at least the Muromachi period (室町時代, 1336–1573), when seeds were brought back from Ming China and planted near the temples of nearby Kurogi (黒木). For centuries the village produced everyday tea, with no particular national reputation.

Hoshino River by Minto (みんと), public domain.

That changed at the very end of the Meiji era. A grower from Honboshino (本星野) named Suezaki Kiichi (末崎喜一) travelled to Uji (宇治) to study the techniques used to make Gyokuro: shading the bushes with reed screens for weeks before harvest, picking only the youngest leaves by hand, steaming and rolling them with great care. He brought the knowledge home, adapted it to the misty climate of Hoshino, and in 1904 the village produced its first Gyokuro.

That year is considered the dawn of Gyokuro in Hoshino. From there, the craft spread across the wider Okuyame (奥八女) area, and today Yame accounts for around half of all Japanese Gyokuro production. Hoshino still uses the old methods: reed-screen shading, hand-picking, slow processing. The valley's geography helps too: thick morning fog rises off the Hoshino River and diffuses the early sunlight, softening the conditions in which the leaf grows.

Yame tea plantation by kanegen, used under CC BY 2.0 (cropped from original).

Our March Karigane is built from the off-cuts of those gardens: the stems sorted out of each batch of Hoshino Gyokuro and Sencha.

Brewing Karigane

The producer recommends a short, gentle infusion to bring out the natural sweetness without pulling too much astringency from the leaves:

• Tea leaves: 4g (about 2 teaspoons)
• Water: 180ml
• Temperature: 80°C
• Steeping time: 25 seconds

Pour the water onto the leaves slowly, and serve in small cups. For a second infusion, use slightly hotter water and reduce the time to about 10 seconds. A third steep is also possible: warmer still, very brief. Each cup will lean a little more toward the lively, vegetal side of the tea.

Karigane is also excellent cold-brewed. Place 8g of leaves in a 500ml pitcher of cold spring water and leave it in the refrigerator for four to six hours. The slow extraction draws out the theanine without the astringency, giving a rounder, sweeter cup that suits the first warm days of spring.

Enjoy!