Like him, I was trained as a producer but I continue to attend trainings because we have to adapt to natural changes every year. When I am not in our shop, I meet other women tea producers and we talk a lot about our profession... My work is very important to me, it makes me grow and living among the tea trees brings me a great deal of serenity.
I am Asuka Kumada, I live in Kagoshima and my family has been producing teas for 50 years. I'm only 31 but I have learned the profession and have been working in tea for 11 years.
In China, jasmine tea (Mo Li Hua Cha) is said to be the oldest of the flower teas and to have been developed under the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Our Mo Li Hua Cha is made according to an age-old tradition; a layer of tea leaves is spread out on a tarpaulin, and on top of them a layer of jasmine flowers is added, followed by another layer of tea and then 30 to 40 cm of jasmine buds. The heat given off by the flowers packed between the layers of tea accelerates the opening of the buds which...
