The boutique tea garden Mandokoro is located high in the mountains of Japan's Shiga prefecture, where tea leaves continue to be handpicked. Lisa visited Mandokoro, meeting independent tea farmer Ren Yamagata, several years ago.

During winter's cold weather, tea leaves absorb more nutrients, thus developing more flavor and making the first harvest—sencha—more valuable. Unlike large tea corporations, Mandokoro is very small, the average tea picker is over 72 years old, and most of the tea is consumed by local residents. Therefore, only limited quantities of this sencha were available—making us incredibly lucky to have some!

And because this amazing tea is so very special, we're packaging 50 g of this handpicked sencha in a Japanese washi paper tin.*

Be sure to check out Ren's Instagram feed to see more photos of this gorgeous area.

*Please note: Style of tea tin varies.