Soen’s birthplace

The rainy season is over here. The summer has come. It’s very hot today. This morning, I woke up by the heat. The room temperature was about 30 degrees C (86F) at eight in the morning. It’s too hot for the morning.



Yesterday, I talked about the birth of sencha and Soen Nagatani. The actual house that Soen lived does not exist. What you can see at Soen’s birthplace is the kiln Soen used, and a shrine for Soen. The house with thatched roof in the picture was built to preserve Soen’s kiln.
By knowing the background of the birth of sencha, I love sencha more now. I bought Soen-cha sold at the Soen’s birthplace, which is sencha made in the area (80g/2.8oz 1000yen). I also had a chance to have a cup of Soen-cha there. It was prepared very strong, but was not too bitter at all; instead it had very rich umami like kabusecha. I was kind of shocked by the taste. According to the lady who prepared the tea, she used a lot of leaves. I guess this Soen-sencha is very nice leaves. If you use too much leaves to prepare cheep sencha, the tea will get too bitter. Here, I learned a good example of a different tea brewing. I want to try Soen-cha with plenty leaves at home.