HISTORY, PATIENTLY KEPT
Our past, present, and future.
With every bowl, there is a world in your hands.
The beginning
In 1632, Hiroshi Yamamori began cultivating tea in Uji, Kyoto, where river mist, red clay, and mountain light shaped Japan's finest tea.
Hoshicha continues that lineage: one estate, one first harvest, one pace set by the field.
A CRAFT OF PATIENCE
Our tea masters are farmers, harvesters, mill keepers, and tasters whose judgment is measured in seasons.
HOW WE SEE IT
A future made by respecting tradition.
A four-hundred-year craft is kept through discernment, season after season.
Every jar answers to the field, the harvest, the mill, and the master.
The field, harvest, aging, and mill define the reserve.
Respectful evolutions
Judgment by hand
Young first-flush leaves are selected by touch, timing, and restraint.
In time with the field
The canopy, harvest window, and aging period follow the field's calendar.
Meditative and meticulous
Each batch is judged by color, aroma, texture, and finish.
IMPERIAL CRAFT, REINTERPRETED
At the estate, old methods carry the modern ritual.
Every cup begins with a chain of quiet decisions. Each one shapes the tea.
Our tea-making techniques
Tana shading
Bamboo and straw soften the light and deepen the leaves.
Ichiban-cha harvest
The first flush is picked once each spring, at peak balance.
Stone milling
Granite mills turn at low speed to preserve aroma, color, and texture.
THE PROOF IS IN THE PROCESS
Time is part of the craft.
After harvest, leaves are steamed, dried, sorted, and aged as tencha before stone milling.
Slow rotations prevent heat, preserving color, aroma, and texture. One jar takes more than an hour to grind.
"Four centuries of Uji craft, carried through one origin, one harvest, and one standard."
Yesterday's Traditions, Tomorrow's Ritual
We see each reserve as a mirror of its place, carrying Uji's mist, soil, shade, and inherited craft into the bowl.
Uji, Kyoto
A landscape of river mist, mountain light, and tea fields. The estate remains close to the conditions that shaped the Yamamori family craft.
Place carries through the flavor.
The tea master
Knowledge is carried by hand, sound, and season. The master reads the leaf, the mill, and the powder before it reaches the jar.
That judgment keeps the old standard alive.
The Yamamori Estate
Central Uji gives the estate river mist, mineral-rich soil, and soft mountain light.
For sixteen generations, the Yamamori family has kept production close to this place.
Our Team
- Masters
- 16 generations
- Harvest
- First flush
- Method
- Stone milled
The Estate
- Founded
- 1632
- Reserve
- 2,000 Jars
- Origin
- Uji, Kyoto
