Everything You Need to Know about Sencha

It’s time again for the next installment of the Japanese tea deep dive series and this time around we are going to be looking into Sencha.

Sencha is considered to have been invented by Nagatani Sōen in Uji, Kyoto, in 1738. This makes it relatively new in the history of tea in Japan. Sencha really began to be developed in the second half of the nineteenth century, when it was a major export, especially to the United States. At the time, tea was Japan’s second largest export after silk, and it still remains today to be the most popular of Japanese teas loved by tea lovers around the world.

Production

Sencha is made from green tea leaves that are cultivated in direct sunlight unlike shaded teas such as Matcha and Gyokuro, and are harvested in the first or second flush (tea leaves of the first harvest are said to have better quality and that's why Shincha is so sought after). The leaves of the upper shoots (which are the youngest leaves) are used because they are a higher quality than those of the lower shoots and aren’t as dark and tough.

Once the tea leaves have been picked, they are steamed to prevent the oxidation of the leaves. This process lasts less than a minute but is the most important step of the process. Next, the leaves are dried and rolled (how many times they are rolled will depend on the particular producer). The rolling helps to give the leaves the familiar needle shape and helps to release the juices from inside the leaves which overall intensifies the overall aromatics and flavor of the tea.

Sencha production can be described by a few words: Name of the Sencha production area, harvesting season, processing step, steaming time, cultivar name and blending.

Sencha can sometimes be given the name of the region it is produced in. The biggest producers of Sencha are Shizuoka, Kagoshima, and Miyazaki regions. Other regions like Fukuoka, Mie, and Saitama are producing Sencha too, but the yearly amount is much lower.

In terms of harvesting, Sencha can be harvested in the spring, summer, and fall. The first Sencha of the year is called Shincha. Shincha means “new tea” and is produced from the very first leaves of spring. You can find Adagio Shincha Sencha here. It is a light, layered cup, with nutty notes of umami and delicate apricot. It lingers on in the finish and is overall an elegant and lovely tea. It can be steeped multiple times and is also fantastic when cold brewed.

Sencha is shaped like small, thin green needles and is mostly a very uniform tea. Sencha is sometimes withered too, although rarely. This extra step in it’s process increases fruity and floral flavors, uncommon for Japanese Sencha, but still done by some producers.The main step in producing sencha is steaming, the level of steaming will define what the Sencha is classed as. The steaming step of the process helps to stop the oxidation and preserve the color, flavor and nutrients.

The most commonly used cultivar for making Sencha green tea is Yabukita (which originated in Shizuoka), though Japanese tea producers do use over 100 cultivars for making different teas, a large amount of which are perfect for producing Sencha. All of them have different qualities and will affect the colour, aroma and most importantly the taste of the tea. Once you have been drinking Japanese tea for a while though you’ll be able to tell the cultivar just by looking at the leaves, checking the color and recognizing small flavor nuances.

The final tea may contain different cultivars blended to achieve specific flavors and aroma that the tea producers are looking to achieve in a specific tea, however some providers like Masters Teas sell only single origin teas which can be much more expensive but are well worth the price tag. Others will also blend many different types until satisfied with the flavor and aroma profile. Which you prefer will depend purely on your taste preference as taste is subjective.

Preparation

The best ways to prepare it - As I have said throughout all of my posts for this on-going series it is always best to prepare traditional Japanese teas in teaware that is also traditional to them.

So, when brewing Sencha you will want to make sure you are using Japanese teaware either in the form of Kyusu or a Houhin.

Whatever you choose to use you definitely need to warm it with some hot water before starting to brew your tea. You will want to also warm any cups you are going to use by filling them with water at around 70C-80C. Keep this water in those cups. Once you have added your leaves to your pot, go ahead and add in the water. Obviously the amount will depend on how many people you are serving and how strong you want your brew.

A general rule of thumb is to use 1 tsp of tea per cup (around 3g), remember I told you to keep your water in your cups that is the water you should be adding to your pot. Doing this this way will make sure that you will end up brewing the perfect amount that you need, but I do recommend just adding a little extra to account for some that may be lost during steeping.

You should then let your Sencha brew for around 1 minute, with your water between 70C and 80C. Your final preparation step will be to serve your steeped tea. You don’t want to fill each cup separately from the first time you pour; you'll want to go back and forth between them evenly as the tea that comes out towards the end will be the most concentrated.

Remember that every drop counts so make sure you don’t stop pouring until the pot stops dripping. Sencha is also fantastic cold brewed and super refreshing throughout the summer.