Sencha, a green tea with a vibrant, fresh green colour and flavour, is the most widely consumed tea in Japan. It makes up more than half of Japan's annual tea harvest and can be eaten hot or chilled. Sencha is a small-leaf Camellia sinensis-based steamed green tea (tea bushes). Japanese sencha frequently has a light flavour that has been compared to vegetables, greenery, seaweed, or grass. Sencha comes in a variety of flavours depending on the type and brewing method. Sencha green tea is processed after picking by quickly steaming the fresh tea leaves to stop oxidation and preserve the tea's green colour and flavour. Following that, the leaves are rolled, moulded, and dried.
Types of sencha
Sencha tea comes in a wide variety of varieties based on how the leaves are cultivated and processed. Some of the most well-liked sencha tea varietals are as follows:
1. Shincha sencha: The first harvest of Japanese green tea is used to make Shincha Sencha, which has a sweeter flavour profile than other sencha teas. Shincha is produced in the Spring.
2. Asamushi: Asamushi sencha has the shortest steaming time of all senchas, only 30 seconds, which gives the tea leaves a vivid colour and a delicate flavour.
3. Chumushi: Steamed for a minute, chumushi sencha is thought to be the most traditional flavour of sencha and has a stronger flavour than asamushi.
4. Fukamushi: The longest steaming time of all sencha teas, ranging from 90 to two minutes, gives Fukamushi sencha its rich, dark, and aromatic flavour.
Applications
In Japan, sencha is typically drunk hot throughout the day. It can give you a pleasant boost with moderate to low amounts of caffeine without keeping you up all night. It also makes a zingy iced tea with a brilliant green hue and flavour.
