Michio Hanamizu was a businessman in Tokyo when he met his wife: the daughter of a tea producer and smallholder of a tea farm in Ibaraki. His father-in-law was set to retire and sell the land, until Hanamizu quit his job and offered to take over. Initially data-driven in his production methods, Hanamizu converted to “making tea with the five senses” after visits to black tea producers in China and Taiwan. His ‘Izumi’ is exemplary among his “first flush” stylesrolling to low-medium oxidation and tumble baking to create something worthy of Phoenix Oolong or Himalayan first flushes.