Sencha is the most popular Japanese tea, it is 80% of Japanese tea production. It is cultivated in open, no shadowed space areas. This tea is harvested up to five times per year, starting in the early spring to the late autumn. The first spring flush is considered to be the best and the most fragrant. The story of this tea variety started in the 1738 in Japan. The tea master Soen Nagatany from Wujitavara in the south of Kioto started to sell steamed and rolled into the needles tea leaves. There had been two tea varieties before this. The first type was matcha, green powdered tea worth its weight in gold and it was very limitedly produced. The second type was more rough bancha tea, that was produced from late flushes leaves. Although Wuji tea production was quite laborious, but it was accostable for the mass market and easy for brewing. Sencha was widely spread due to affords of zen monk Baisao.
Sencha producing process characterized with the steaming of the fresh tea leaves, instead of the roasting as it is done for the other types of tea. Then the leaves are rolled into the thin strips, “spider’s foot” as Japanese call them. The tea leaves are strongly crushed in the producing process, so there is a lot of tea powder in the Sencha tea.
The dry tea consists of tiny, flat tubes of twisted leaves and the fragments. The aroma of dry tea is tender, herbal and flora. The clear infusion has yellow-green tone.
The bouquet of the brewed tea is fresh, bright, herbal and floral. The aroma is tender and sweetish. The taste is mild, rich, smooth with slight bitterness that turns into the gorgeous, sweet and refreshing aftertaste.
The classic Japanese brewing: heat classic Japanese teapot with hot water. Take 2 grams of tea for 100ml. Sencha is brewed with a bit chilled boiled water (75-80°С), steep for 30 seconds and pour tea into the cups. The infusion can be repeated for three times.
Also tea can be infused by quick repeated infusions in the porcelain gaiwan or glass. Take 5 grams of dry leaves to 100 ml. It can be infused for 6-7 times. The brewing this way makes tea lighter, airy, no bitterness. Also the seaweed overtone appears.
This is an original green tea with rich taste and light tonic effect. This is a nice choice for the Japanese tea tradition knowing. Sencha is very nice for the everyday tea time in the light part of the year