Ishikawa Prefecture is well-known around the country for its roasted tea called Kaga Bocha. Famed for its sweetness and roasted aroma, the tea is a popular choice in both drinks and sweets at cafes everywhere. Although it was originally a tea unique to the Ishikawa region, its rich and smooth flavor led to it gaining popularity nationwide. To learn how Kaga Bocha gets its unique flavor, I paid a visit to Nodaya Chaten in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture.

Searching for Kaga Bocha in Kanazawa

Nodaya Chaten is located in Tatemachi, which lies next to Kanazawa’s premier shopping district of Katamachi. Tatemachi Street features many hotels, clothing shops, art galleries, and other attractions, and is known for its tranquil atmosphere that blends old and new alike. Nodaya Chaten has been doing business here since it was originally founded by Magoshichi Noda in 1859 (Ansei Year 6 of the Edo period), marking 165 years of operation.

Kaga Bocha’s history dates back to the Meiji period. In 1902 (Meiji Year 35), a Kanazawa tea merchant by the name of Shinbei Hayashiya began selling roasted tea stems, which were usually discarded at the time. The unique flavor led to the tea becoming immensely popular. Word of his method spread, and the resulting tea gained a following throughout Ishikawa Prefecture.

“It used to be referred to as simply bancha. Kaga Bocha is a tea historically unique to Ishikawa Prefecture,” says Masateru Noda, the fourth-generation proprietor who has run the shop for the past 60 years.

“It used to be that people threw away the sticks (Editor’s Note: his term for the tea plant’s stems). There was a tea merchant named Shinbei Hayashiya who noticed that roasting the stems made for delicious tea, and that’s how it all began.”

Even at the age of 83, Masateru is proud of the fact that he walks 5 kilometers each and every day without fail. On this day, he sat down to teach me about the history of Kaga Bocha and his shop. He became seriously ill about seven years ago, meaning that his daughter, Kazumi Izumi, is now responsible for making the Kaga Bocha, while her husband, Seiichi, runs the business side of things.

That afternoon, Kazumi was roasting a batch of Kaga Bocha, allowing me to see the process up close for myself.

Nodaya Chaten uses both direct flame and sand-based roasting for its Kaga Bocha

As I set foot in the roastery, I immediately notice two tea roasters. The beige-colored machine that can be seen on the right-hand side of the above photo is a direct-flame roaster, while the bluish-green machine on the left is a sand-based roaster. I can hear a rattling sound coming from the flame roaster as it works on a batch of tea. This is a drum-type roaster, meaning that the stems are spun within the container while being heated from below with a gas-powered flame. Masateru says that in the old days, they had to use charcoal, which made the process fairly labor-intensive. However, when he took over the business, he brought in new machines and established the roasting process that the shop still uses to this day. Kazumi would watch her father at work in order to learn the process Nodaya Chaten uses to roast its Kaga Bocha.

The Kaga Bocha at Nodaya Chaten is unique in that it combines the two roasting methods of sand and direct flame. This particular process has been in place since the days of Masateru’s predecessor. Roasting methods can vary by shop, and while most shop owners aren’t familiar with the details of each other’s operations, there is apparently only one other shop besides Nodaya Chaten that currently uses both roasting methods.

As you can probably guess from its name, sand roasting uses heated sand to roast the tea stems. This is what the sand looks like.

It is beautiful white sand, made up of fine particles. While it may look like salt at first glance, it’s completely natural sand that comes from Oigawa river in Shizuoka Prefecture.

First, the stems are sifted out and then go through a two-step heating (roasting) process: the “preliminary roast,” followed by the “primary roast.” The preliminary roast is done completely by direct flame, while the primary roast is evenly split between direct flame and sand roasting. Lastly, everything is mixed together to form the finished product.

Today’s batch comprised a total of 50kg. The roaster’s limited capacity means that the batch has to be done in multiple turns, so Kazumi adds the stems and then removes them once finished in order to continue the roast.

When the roasters are operating at full capacity, the room becomes hot and humid, like a sauna. I was only standing off to the side, watching the process, and I still found myself covered in sweat. Indeed, the process of roasting tea is one that is physically taxing.

Funnily enough, the process relies more on one’s sense of sight rather than smell. Watching the way the smoke rises or the color of the stems lets her know when the roast is done to perfection. When I ask if there is any special technique behind it, Kazumi replies with a laugh, “You just have to go by feel.” Even though she was taught the process by her father, it wasn’t exactly something you could learn in a textbook, so she basically had to watch him work and then try to repeat whatever he did.

“The times when the roast hasn’t gone so well, it doesn’t get the usual aroma. Even though I felt like the tea was well-roasted, I had some long-time customers reject it, saying, ‘It doesn’t have the right aroma!’ Looking back, I think it was probably due to the amount of heat I used,” remarks Kazumi. “Our regular customers can always tell the difference,” follows Seiichi.

Looking at it from a different angle, those regular customers likely get so used to the tea’s flavor that they’re not able to drink it any other way. Since each tea shop has its own unique roasting method, there are naturally subtle differences in the flavor of their teas as well. Nodaya Chaten is renowned for the appealing flavor of its tea, so much so that one customer even joked, “What else are you putting in this?” Naturally, there is nothing extra added, it simply comes down to the gentle roasting of the tea stems.

Although Kazumi is quick to add, “We do put our heart and soul into it! We’re happy when our customers drink our tea and can tell how much effort we put into each and every cup.”

In the final step of the process, the stems that were roasted over the direct flame are mixed with the ones that were roasted in the sand. The flame-roasted stems give off a distinct, roasted aroma. Conversely, the sand-roasted stems have a sweet and complex aroma that reminds one of grilled vegetables, a fruity coffee, or bean-jam wafers. The Kaga Bocha from Nodaya Chaten combines the aroma of direct flame roasting with the flavor and sweetness of sand roasting. It is clear that much time, effort, and care is taken to create such delicious tea.

As my tour winded down and I found myself surrounded by the sweet, fragrant aroma of the tea, I was given the chance to leisurely enjoy a cup of Kaga Bocha tea myself. In the second half of this feature, I’ll cover the history of Nodaya Chaten, which has been handed down between family members over the years, as well as the rich culture surrounding Kaga Bocha tea itself.

Nodaya Chaten
A tea shop located in the Tatemachi district of Kanazawa City in Ishikawa Prefecture, it was first established in 1859 (Ansei Year 6). It serves Kaga Bocha, which is a beloved tea made from the roasted stems of the first harvest, and has many loyal fans throughout the country. Masateru Noda, the fourth-generation proprietor who ran the shop for approximately 60 years, was recently succeeded by his daughter Kazumi Izumi, who continues the shop’s long tradition of roasting Kaga Bocha tea. The cafe serves tea such as Kaga Bocha, as well as ice cream parfaits and an ice cream-based zenzai, which is a traditional Japanese dessert soup made with azuki beans that is popular with both tourists and locals alike.
3 Tatemachi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa
www.nodayatea.jp

Photo by Kumi Nishitani
Text (originally in Japanese) by Yoshiki Tatezaki