I wonder when I met Gen-kun. When I think back on it, I see Gen-kun's kind, smiling face and feel the clear, refreshing aroma of tea spreading through my mouth.
His real name is Genki Takahashi and he is a young tea farmer named "TEA FACTORY GEN" who grows fertilizer- and pesticide-free tea in Sera-gun, Hiroshima Prefecture.
I got acquainted with him many years ago, and I kept thinking that one day I would like to do something with him. But I didn't want to do it half-heartedly, and I didn't want to do what is commonly called "collaboration" for some reason. His tea-making takes a lot of time and effort, and the tea you take in your hand is so delicate that it almost seems to convey his personality.
"Recently, I've been able to face the tea more and more," he says over the phone. I could feel his strong will even over the phone as he said this.
This time, I decided to use the one of his tea called "tea flower tea” for my jam.
There are few scented Japanese teas. The tea flower tea is made by the same method as jasmine tea made by picking tea leaves from new tea buds in early summer and flavoring them with tea flowers picked in autumn, when the flowers are in full bloom. Because of the delicate aroma, if the tea leaves are too dry, the aroma will be lost and the color will deteriorate. It is difficult to determine the best way to make the tea, and they have made many mistakes. The moment I opened the bag of tea flower tea, I was captivated by its delicate natural aroma. I was able to obtain pesticide-free lemons grown in the same Setouchi area by chance, and I decided to put their relationship as if they were neighbors growing in the same climate in a single bottle.
Setouchi lemons not only have a unique sourness, but also a refreshing, bouncy aroma with just the right amount of acidity. The marmalade is cooked slowly while retaining some bitterness, and every time you bite into a peel with your back teeth, a grain of aroma pops out and spreads in your mouth. I combined his tea flower tea with the lemon marmalade to reproduce the faint aroma that lingers in the teacup after drinking all the Japanese tea and the lingering scent of the tea in the nose.
The resulting jam has two more unusual and delightful stories. Gen-kun's tea flower tea won the 2022 Nihoncha (Japanese tea) Award for Fine Product. After three years of trial and error, the tea has finally been recognized for its excellence. On the other hand, my "comp.JAM" won a gold at the 2023 Dalemain World Marmalade Awards in England. Both awards were judged by taste judges, and the fact that the delicate flavors were recognized is a great hope for the the future from the past. I would like to continue such creative work with him in the future, where new discoveries and values are created through trial and error.
I would be happy if you could imagine a gentle landscape created by the people of Setouchi beyond the lingering sensation with this jam.