Are Japanese Green Teas High Maintenance?

Are Japanese Green Teas High Maintenance?

I like to enjoy seasonal teas, like Sakura Sencha in the spring, Farmer’s Shincha in the summer, Pumpkin Spice Tea in the fall, and Winter Walnut Tea in the winter. Let me know your favourite seasonal teas, too! 

I introduced Farmer’s Shincha 2019 Japanese Green Tea earlier this summer. Shincha means ‘new crop’ in Japanese. I hope you had a chance to try it.

That tea is all sold out now, but I have received new crops of the other Senchas.
My stocks of Gyokuro Superior, Organic Sencha Premium, Sencha Superior and Genmaicha have all been replaced with the 2019 crop. It doesn’t get any fresher than these teas! 

Can you tell which are new and which are old Sencha leaves?
I didn’t use any filters on the photo. I just wanted to show the difference.
YES! The one on the right is the new one I just received. The one on the left is from the sample box I was showing to my customers that I opened several months ago. I was shocked myself. Wow, the fresh one is a very fresh grassy green!  

Japanese Green Teas are very sensitive to the light and air. One of my male customers mentioned once, that the Japanese Green Teas are like women. High maintenance! He has to be very careful about the water temperature, how long to steep it for, how to store it, etc. I said: that’s right! And when you treat it in a very special way, you will get good results too! Hahaha~ 

How to brew Sencha: 

  1. Put 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of tea into a teapot. 
  2. Pour in hot water (80C). Do not use boiling water. Don’t scald your tea leaves! 
  3. Steep for 1 minute. Overly steeped green tea gets very bitter!
  4. Strain into your cup and enjoy!
  5. Can be reinfused 2 to 3 times. Simply pour the hot water right through the tea leaves for the second and third times.

High maintenance? Sure! That’s fine. Good tea is worth it.

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