By MAKOTO HOKAO/ Staff Writer
March 27, 2023 at 18:50 JST
YAME, Fukuoka Prefecture--Local tea producers and officials lifted glasses to celebrate the launch of Yame, the bottled high-end green tea that aims to tap into the global market.
The luxury gyokuro tea will hit the shelves with a price tag of 27,000 yen ($206) for a 500-milliliter bottle, including tax.
Yame’s gyokuro tea is marketed under a local specialty brand certified by the government.
Since 2016, the tea producers have promoted gyokuro overseas to positive receptions at tasting events in New York, Hong Kong and other locations.
However, brewing gyokuro tea properly requires special equipment as well as meticulous attention to the water temperature and brewing time, which was holding back the luxury drink from truly going global.
That’s why the producers came up with bottling and labeling the brew like a fine bottle of wine.
They spent six months in a trial-and-error phase to bottle the drink without spoiling its delicate taste and aroma.
Using only the finest leaves, just 0.0075 percent of the tea produced in the area, Yame is brewed slowly over 10 hours in minus 1 to 2 degrees water.
It features a blend of four types of leaves that sell for 300,000 yen per kilogram.
Half of the first 100 bottles will be shipped to high-end restaurants overseas while the rest will go to domestic customers.
The producers will make another 200 bottles in 2023 while aiming to ship 5,000 bottles in 2028.
More information is available here: https://yame-teashop.com/
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Yame gyokuro tea. This photo was taken in Yame, Fukuoka Prefecture on March 24. (Makoto Hokao)
