A love letter to persimmon leaf tea

I’m back in Japan for 3 weeks to visit the farmers who grow my teas, and I spent this past week in the town of Izumo, which is known as Japan’s mythological heartland. I also happened to go just ahead of its Kamiarizuki, the month when all of Japan’s eight million Shinto gods congregate in Izumo to decide how the year is gonna go.

What I went there for though, was none other than persimmon harvest season.

Persimmon, or kaki in Japanese, has been in Japan since prehistoric times, and it’s the most iconic fruit that signals autumn in Japan. It’s also referred to as “fruit of the gods”. Persimmons have this beautiful glistening orange colored peel, and the fruit tastes somewhere between honeyed apricot, pear, and brown sugar. It’s something I grew up eating a lot of in Japan as a child, especially at grandma’s, though I appreciate it far more now as an adult.

Izumo is one of Japan’s main growing regions of the Saijo varietal, and the leaves of those persimmons are what I’m mainly after as Teasan.

Persimmon fruit harvesting season is in October (what I came for this time), but persimmon leaf harvesting season actually happens in early summer. The fascinating thing about persimmon leaf tea is that the leaves don’t come from the fruit-bearing persimmon trees but from abandoned orchards that were let go by elderly farmers. Younger farmers in their neighborhood take over the land, cut the old tree down, and tidy up the shoots that grow back over the next 5 years. They pick leaves from that regrowth, which then get used as tea or sushi wrapping, among other things. Picking the leaves stops the fruit from growing, so only when the farmer deems the tree is “ready” do they stop picking the leaves to finally bear plump, sweet persimmons. This also means that you can only ever get persimmon leaf tea during this transition period. Picking the leaves is also slow, hard work, where branches are stripped by hand without any machines.

Unroasted persimmon leaf tea is soft and grassy-green with notes of hay and a faint natural sweetness. Roasted versions, which are what I source, remind me of a slightly fruity hojicha, like I’m watching the sunset from the mountains where the air is crisp. I’ve tried well over a dozen persimmon leaf teas from all across Japan, but something about this one from Izumo is so unique and so comforting at the same time. Plus, persimmon leaf is traditionally known to be very rich in Vitamin C and antioxidant polyphenols. And they’re pesticide-free. Swoon.

I take this amazing roasted persimmon leaf tea and blend them with yuzu peel to create the, dare I say, best ever caffeine-free tea ever (!!!). It has the complexity of an expensive oolong without all the caffeine that comes with it. It’s not overly fruity, it’s got a bit of umami and tannin, and feels very clean with a hint of an aged oak barrel. I can try to explain it in writing, but really the best way to know is to try it out for yourself.

Yuzu Persimmon Leaf tea is our best seller and the Teasan signature blend. If I could only drink one tea for the rest of my life, this is easily my choice. I would love for you to give it a try and let me know what you think.

Try Yuzu Persimmon Leaf tea