King of Green HIRO Premium

Loose-Leaf Susuri-cha Format. King of Green HIRO Premium is also offered as a loose-leaf tea (すすり茶). This leaf product is made from hand-picked young buds grown in naturally cultivated fields used for sencha and gyokuro, selected for their soft texture and low astringency, and is rich in amino acids, mainly theanine.^[1]

Natural-Form Cultivation & Indirect Shading. The tea is grown by the natural-form cultivation method (自然仕立), with indirect shading of 16 or more days using natural materials such as rice straw — the traditional honmi gyokuro technique. This shading develops a fragrant aroma known as 'ooi-ka' (覆い香, also rendered 'ooikaori'), a characteristic scent produced by the indirect shading process.^[2]

Appearance. Poured into a wine glass, King of Green HIRO Premium displays a clear golden liquor color that shines elegantly.^[3]

Nose. The producer describes a mellow fragrance, with an expansive spread of aroma. The shading imparts the characteristic 'ooi-ka' scent.^[2]

Palate. Royal Blue Tea describes the mellow fragrance as followed by the ultimate umami, with an expansive spread of umami that maximizes the appeal of the tea. The producer characterizes the aroma and umami as so profound they transcend conventional expectations of tea.^[2],[3],[4]

Glassware. Royal Blue Tea recommends serving its bottled teas in a wine glass, and notes that King of Green HIRO Premium reveals its clear golden color and full aromatic profile when poured into one.

Temperature. Royal Blue Tea recommends serving its bottled teas straight without ice at approximately 17–18°C, noting that at room temperature the refined aroma becomes more pronounced.

Loose-Leaf Preparation. As a loose-leaf tea, the product is prepared by the susuri-cha method: starting with 3g of leaves steeped in water at approximately 40°C, with subsequent infusions at 50°C and then 70–80°C. It is packaged in a paulownia wood box (桐箱) containing five packets of 3g each.^[5],[6]

Production. Royal Blue Tea handles development, manufacturing, and sales in-house, producing its bottled teas by non-heat extraction, non-heat filtration, and aseptic filling, with most work performed by hand by a small team in a cleanroom over three to seven days. The company operates under a zero food-waste factory policy that limits production volume, and its facility holds SGS-HACCP certification. Its bottles are sealed with a Vino-Lok glass stopper manufactured by Alcoa Germany rather than cork, allowing repeated resealing and eliminating cork taint.

Region. The source region is Hoshino Village along the Hoshino River in Yame City, Fukuoka Prefecture, a renowned gyokuro production area with a tradition of consistently placing at the top of the national tea competition's gyokuro category. The growing environment is characterized by day-night temperature differences, rainfall, and soil suited to tea cultivation.^[2],[3]

Ingredients Policy. Royal Blue Tea uses only single-garden, hand-picked Camellia sinensis as raw material and states its bottled teas contain no additives, produced using proprietary microbial control without preservatives or heat pasteurization.

The Yame gyokuro that is the source of King of Green HIRO Premium has a tradition of consistently placing in the top rankings at the National Tea Competition in the gyokuro category. Its processor, Shinya Yamaguchi, won the individual championship at the 57th and 58th National Tea Evaluation Technical Competition in consecutive years, and holds the 10th-dan tea master rank (茶師十段).^[2],[3]