On 8th April 2017 we received good news from Mr. Matsumoto, whose tea garden is located in the prefecture Kumamoto in Kyushu, the southernmost main island of Japan. He told us that the first young sprouts, which will be harvested for the Shincha MOE, are already visible at the tea garden parcel.
As you can see in this picture, rainy weather predominates at the moment and it is relatively chilly, too. So, this year’s harvest of Shincha MOE will certainly not take place before 20th April, as it did last year, but rather at the end of April.
Of course, Mr. Matsumoto harvests only the young sprouts, which are well visible in this picture because of their light green colour, for the Shincha MOE. Older leaves, which are distinctly darker, larger and firmer, are not harvested. By the way, MOE means ’spring green’ and depicts exactly the colour of the young sprouts that are harvested for the Shincha MOE.