Sencha
煎茶
Green
One man's method became a whole country's tea.
In 1738 Nagatani Soen, working south of Kyoto, worked out a way of steaming and rolling green leaves that gave a bright clean cup unlike anything Japan had drunk before. He spent years on it and then gave it away rather than keeping it.
It spread until sencha was four out of every five teas the country drank, and it still is. The steaming is the whole difference. Chinese greens meet a hot pan and turn nutty. Sencha meets steam and stays vegetal. It is grassy and fresh, with something savoury holding it up underneath.
- grassy
- umami
- fresh
- Origin
- Japan (Uji, Shizuoka, Kagoshima)
- Water
- 80°C / 176°F
- Ratio
- 5 g / 100 ml
- Caffeine
- Medium
- Rinse
- Not needed
~80% of Japanese tea production; the national everyday green
How much leaf
Gong fu brewing is leaf-heavy and short. Set your gaiwan or pot size and this is what to weigh out.
Vessel volume
100 ml
Recommended dose
Use ~5.0g of tea
The session
4 infusions, about 2m 55s of total contact time.
- Steep 145sFresh green, cool and quiet.
- Steep 230sUmami swells, almost briny.
- Steep 340sThe grass note sharpens, bright.
- Steep 41mSweet green water, softening out.
Also sold as
Japanese green, Shincha
Steaper times this session for you
A countdown per infusion, a gong when each one is up, and the whole library in your pocket. Coming to iPhone.
Get notified at launchThese numbers are a median of independent gong fu sources, not a law. Leaf age, vessel and water all move them. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.