Shizuoka green tea

Samurai left jobless after 1868 cleared the Makinohara plateau and planted it with tea; a century and a half later the prefecture supplies close to 40 % of the national crop. Unlike Chinese tea, the Japanese leaf is steamed within hours of picking, which halts oxidation and gives the jade colour and fresh-grass taste. The local fukamushi-cha, steamed two to three times longer, brews cloudy and full-bodied, Shizuoka’s signature.