If you have ever had a green tea, chances are good that it was a sencha. Whether it is a pre-made bottled tea, a tea bag marked simply “green tea”, or a hot cup served at a Japanese restaurant, sencha is ubiquitous.
It’s the most popular style of tea in Japan, and accounts for over three quarters of tea produced there. Even so, it’s in so much demand that Japan’s limited and expensive agricultural land can’t keep up, and sencha companies have turned to outsourcing sencha production to farms in China and even Nepal. Some of these outsourced teas can taste so similar to the seaside umami rich senchas of Japan that one would never guess they grew a thousand miles away in the foothills of the Himalayas, but with Japanese companies providing their expertise and equipment the similarity can be quite remarkable!
Despite the prevalence of sencha in the marketplace, it is a tea that can be surprisingly challenging to prepare. Sencha, particularly the more expensive finer grades, is a delicate tea that easily turns bitter with the slightest brewing faux pas. For this reason many a tea drinker has decided that green tea isn’t for them based on a few unfortunate experiences brewing sencha at home.
However, with some care, sencha can be a pleasant and unique green tea experience. One’s brewing method is important of course, but equally key is the selection of teaware and the sencha itself.
How to Choose Your Sencha
Sencha comes in many varieties. You may have seen some terms thrown about such as "shincha," the first sencha harvested in the year. Or "kabusecha," a particularly rich sencha made by shading the plants for a week before plucking to enhance the chlorophyl and thus color and flavor. Sencha uses steaming as the “kill green” step to keep the tea green, and there are different types of sencha based on the level of steaming: asamushi (lightly steamed), chumushi (moderately steamed), and fukamushi (heavily steamed). The varieties go on and on, and everyone has their preferred style of sencha.
However, regardless of the sencha style, of key importance is finding fresh sencha. Sencha that is a year or two old can be very disappointing, flatter and with less richness, although with proper airtight storage sencha’s lifespan can be lengthened. One has a much better chance of fresh sencha with a specialty tea dealer of good reputation than an off the shelf supermarket sencha.
Good quality sencha is also important, but it can be difficult to judge based on appearance alone. Unlike the traditional teas of most other regions, whole-leaf or large fragments is not a sign of quality sencha. In fact the opposite is usually true with many high end senchas consisting of very small shards of tea leaf. Instead of relying on leaf size and shape, judge a sencha on the fragrance, or if possible on a brewed sample before purchasing. When that is not possible look for sencha with a deep green color and a uniform size and shape of the leaf fragments.
Need help deciding? Try:
Vanila Mint Sencha
Boulder Blues Green
Genmaicha
How to Make Your Sencha
When steeping sencha, water temperature is where things usually go wrong. Sencha typically does poorly with very hot water. It even yields bitter notes when brewed with moderately hot water. That’s fine if you like a bit of bite in your sencha as some people do, but to get the most richness and umami out of your sencha you will want to brew with water that is just barely steaming, say 150°-160° or even cooler. Many people know that green tea needs to be brewed at cooler temperatures than other teas, but often don’t use water that is cool enough for their sencha. Error on the side of colder temperatures, and if the results do not pack enough punch try increasing the temperature then.
The fine fragments of tea leaf make sencha more appropriate for some kinds of teaware than others. You can use a large teapot, but unless you have a very fine filter, either in the pot or over your cup, you’re going to get a lot of leaf fragments in your drink. Those who brew gongfu cha style with a gaiwan have a different problem: the fragments retain too much water and “sludge up” as you try to pour, causing later infusions to become more and more astringent and messy.
Fine basket infusers with a micro-mesh work decently well with sencha, either in a teapot or in a mug. The basket also allows you to precisely control the infusion amount, removing the basket and leaf from the water when the sencha is just strong enough and not yet bitter. Micromesh filter baskets also have the advantage of being versatile enough to brew numerous tea types, and are generally inexpensive.
Using a Side-Handled Kyusu
The traditional sencha brewing style is perhaps the best suited for this tea; but like most Japanese tea methods, it requires some practice and patience. An absolute must for this style is a very good side-handled kyusu. The word "kyusu" actually just means teapot in Japanese, but in general usage the term almost always means the side-handled traditional style. The kyusu should be small, no larger than an adult fist, or about 150ml.
It should have a good filter within the pot. The best filter style is a wall mesh, a layer of fine screening that covers the inside of the pot from top to bottom and and area much larger than the inside of the spout hole - some even have screens all the way around the pot.
If a wall-screen kyusu cannot be found, look for one with a honeycomb filter with many small holes. A honeycomb filter is a half sphere that covers the inside of the spout hole and can have a few large holes or many tiny ones. Smaller ones are best for sencha.
When brewing the sencha in a kyusu use a small amount of leaf, a teaspoon or two. Pre-heat the kyusu and cups with warm (not hot) water and discard before adding the leaf. Add warm water to the kyusu, but only enough to fill the cups. Let it steep for fifteen seconds or so (more if you like stronger and sharper tea) and then begin to pour.
This is where using a kyusu with sencha pays off. When pouring from the kyusu do so in a rocking motion forward and back, with each pour forward serving a little tea into a cup. Move to the next cup before the next rocking motion. Do so for all cups and then go back to the first to fill it some more with additional rocking motions. The side-handle of the kyusu makes this motion simple. At the end hold the lid on with one hand and hold the kyusu over each cup to shake the last few concentrated drops into them.
Why does one do this rocking motion? It has a couple of different benefits. First it prevents the fine sencha fragments from clogging the pour. A wall screen filter will help spread out the leaf as you pour which also reduces clogging, but the rocking washes the leaf back into the pot with each backward motion and give the next pour a cleaner start. The rocking motion also mixes the infusion a bit, avoiding the issue of some pours being more concentrated than others. Pouring a bit in each cup in turns also helps give your guests a consistent and balanced brew.
As with any infusing advice, if you find that different brewing methods work better for you then by all means enjoy them without hesitation. If you are unsatisfied with your results try playing with temperature, time, or the amount of leaf used. The sencha experience is meant to be enjoyed.
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