Description
What is Sencha?
Sencha (煎茶), which means `brewing tea´, is the most popular type of tea in Japan and is unique in its distinctive emerald green colour. In fact, 80% of all green tea produced in Japan is considered Sencha. After being picked, the Sencha leaves are immediately steamed for about 40 to 50 seconds to stop them from oxidising. This step is followed by several rolling processes (rough rolling, strong rolling, middle rolling, and finally fine rolling) carried out by man-operated machines. These imitate the hand rolling process from earlier times and transform the leaves into evenly formed shapes.
Traditionally the cultivation of Sencha is divided into three harvesting periods. The first leaves picked from April to May are the youngest, most tender ones and therefore provide the best quality Sencha. In June and July is the summer harvest, and the last harvest of the year is carried out in September. Each harvest gives Sencha a unique characteristic.
Farmer Profile
Akihiro “Akky” Kita is our president and lead farmer here at Obubu. His desire to make this tea available to the general public is the foundation of Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms. In college, Akky took up a part-time job as a farmhand in Wazuka, and fell in love with the tea of this region. He made the decision then to leave college and devote his time to mastering the art of tea farming. Recognizing the need for independent farmers like himself to spread the joy of drinking Japanese tea, he travels each year during the winter off-season to bring Japanese tea to people all over the world.
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Obubu Tea –
Reviews by tea professionals and enthusiasts:
” The dry leaves have an aroma of marine air, green grass, warm hay, and wood.
The infusion is light yellow-green with a sweet, vine green aroma and a taste that is green and woody with low astringency and a long green finish.
This sencha remained pleasantly mellow with a sweet aroma throughout three infusions. I even picked up a hint of maple in the second infusion” – Heather Porter, 2016
“This tea is taking me back to my childhood summertimes in an agricultural town, and it is such a winner from the sampler!
It is deeper than the Spring Sun, though maybe a little less complex. Dry leaf is gorgeous – a few shades of green varying in the leaf, and smelling like fresh cut grass (a big summer signifier for me). In the warmed kyusu, that became the scent of hay, then finally in the cup, a very vegetal taste – big leafy greens, like a rich salad in a cup” – pkmnnerdfighter, 2016
” I really enjoy this tea. It’s sweet and grassy but doesn’t have that slight astringency that other senchas have. It’s very smooth and bright” – CarthagoDelinda, 2016
” The first steep is sweet, it starts with a sweet grass taste that fades to fresh cherry. After this initial sweetness, the taste fades to a grassy bitterness and a touch of kale. The finish returns to a gentle sweetness that takes all the bitterness away, the hay sweetness lingers for quite a while” – Amanda Freeman, 2014
“I rarely drink greens, but in my limited experience I really liked this one. The smell of the dry leaves was sweet and a tad fruity, with a main sent somewhere between grass and pine needles. May not sound too pleasant in words, but its quite nice. The brew itself was sweet, with a bit of vibrancy and umami, and a nice dark taste going down the throat. The taste and aroma managed to linger quite some time after the final infusion, which I always find quite enjoyable. I also felt a light and pleasant energy from the tea.” – by PurplePotato, 2014
“This is very different from the senchas I’m used to. It is still buttery and spinachy, but there’s a haylike or grassy quality as well. Kind of like sencha with some white tea thrown in? I find it interesting that this is the summer harvest sencha, because the hay notes really make me think of summer time!” – by Stephanie, 2014
“Very nice, and quite different from other Japanese Senchas I’ve tried. This tea is very much like the description depicts: it starts off with a savory bitterness which wanes into a smooth sweetness toward the tail, and then there is an astringency that cleanses. I enjoy this for how different it is. It is probably not a Sencha I’d drink every day, but, it is one that I’d enjoy on occasion, and it would definitely make a pleasing palate cleanser after meals.” – by LiberTEAS, 2012
“A very nice sencha that brews up well in 4 infusions, keeping a bright green color and lightly savory flavor. Bright, lightly buttery, and yes a small amount of bitterness in the first brew. But a good kind of bitterness like fresh mustard greens or spinach. Shipped direct from Japan, this tea is actually quite reasonable, and much better than many of the more expensive senchas available in the USA.” – by E Alexander Gerster, 2011
“I drank this iced. I love love this tea. Tastes like buttery spinach. Used 1 tablespoon for 16 oz. This is my kind of sencha. No real astringency, slight sweetness.” – by Mel, 2011
“A lot more savoury and less bitter than I was expecting, especially as I brewed this tea with near-boiling water. I really like this tea – it has a surprisingly strong taste for a sencha, very vegetal and buttery as you might expect, but with more umami than I would have expected.”- by Sunlandictwins, 2011
Daniel Daniel (verified owner) –
Strong vegetal taste, less complex than the spring one, but not bitter nor too astringent