Sencha

Sencha

What it is

Nagatani Soen presented the method in 1738 after fifteen years of trials: steam the picked leaf, then roll and dry it by hand — the step that keeps Japanese green tea green where pan-fired Chinese leaf goes yellow. Nothing shades these bushes, so the catechins that shade would have suppressed are all still there, and the astringency is the subject rather than the fault.

In the kitchen

70–80 °C, sixty seconds, and empty the pot to the last drop — the tail of the infusion is where the bitterness collects. The second steep wants hotter water and half the time.

Goes with

Rice Salmon Cucumber Sesame Ginger Umeboshi

Same species

Assam tea Ceylon tea Da Hong Pao Darjeeling tea Earl Grey Genmaicha

Also used with

Narazuke Sugukizuke Takuan Wasanbon sugar

In season alongside

Dandelion greens Fuki (butterbur stalk) Yomogi Ashitaba Borage Celtuce

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