Kiroku Tea Garden

4th generation Kirokuen Tea Farm is in the heart of Wazuka, an area whose mountain tea fields and undulating terraced slopes thick with fog make perfect tea-growing conditions. Founded nearly 100 years ago, before cars and farming machinery were available, these mountain fields were cleared by hand by Kirokuen’s Founder. 

Today, Kirokuen is in the unusual position of being entirely owned by women. After the death of their father, the two sisters and mother  took over the running of the farm to continue the family’s legacy, one that began with their Great Grandfather all those years ago.

A note from the farmer

"While tea may still be commonplace in certain of today’s lifestyles, Japan’s tea culture is suffering from a dramatic decline. Decreasing demand and reduced pricing has meant that an uncertainty over the future of Japanese tea has swept across our community with many farms failing and young people abandoning the craft of tea production. Here at Kirokuen, we’re committed to the revival and rejuvenation of our esteemed tea industry. We’re offering people a new approach to experiencing tea in the form of unique blends of traditional varieties and novel ways of enjoying them, whilst also advancing the reputation of some rarely-before-seen expressions all in the hope that we can ensure the survival of our industry so that it can be appreciated for generations to come."

Kiroku Tea Garden

The Wazuka climate is perfect for tea growing. The weather is cool and the air fresh. The slopes of the hills allow for a vast temperature variation between day and night and our abundant forests and winding tributaries precipitate a heavy fog that protects the tea leaves from direct sunlight. So admired are the famed tea landscapes of Wazuka that they have been designated as a Japan Heritage site.

Kiroku's mission is to revitalise the inclusion of Japanese tea into our daily lives. They are achieving this by modernising their production so that they can inject their own nuances into traditional tea categories whilst also providing lesser-known yet exceptional varieties of tea.

"We are proud to have created our all-female tea farm in Kyoto and we can’t wait to share the passion behind our dream of updating old-fashioned tea traditions and encouraging people to come together over a cup of Kirokuen’s delectable tea"

 

Kiroku's Values

We love tea and we want nothing more than for future generations to be able to celebrate it too. We believe that tea should be approachable and amusing, and that being playful doesn’t mean compromising on flavour and quality.

We think that our matcha makes the perfect latte and our sencha pairs excellently with spirits for some vibrant tea-based cocktails, yet equally, there’s nothing more welcoming than a warm cup of tencha on a crisp winter’s night, or more refreshing than an ice-cold amehouji on a balmy summer’s morning.

Tea doesn’t have to be one or the other; traditional or modern, it just needs to be recognised for what it is; an illustrious little leaf that has been enjoyed for millennia and should be fought to be kept around for multiple millennia more.

Tencha was so happy to visit Kirokuen in the spring of 2023. Seeing the tea fields first hand after many years of selling teas from this farm was a real treat. We tried some delicious tencha and hojicha that we cannot wait to share with you later in the year.

Sign up to the mailing list to get updates on when new teas drop!