The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea - Michael Harney [18]
With slightly lower levels of amino acids and chlorophyll and higher levels of certain polyphenols, sun-grown teas are lighter in color, more vegetal, and a little more astringent. There are two varieties of sun-grown teas: Sencha and Bancha. Growing on the same bush, Sencha—which means simply “New Tea”—consists of the smaller, tenderer leaves that emerge first; Bancha is made from the larger, older leaves that follow after the Sencha leaves have been plucked. There are several harvests of each: After the First Sencha and the First Bancha, the shorn, stunted tea plants regrow, creating a fresh crop of small leaves for a Second Sencha, followed by another round of larger leaves for a Second Bancha, and so forth. Three Sencha harvests per year is considered ideal to allow for the healthiest, most robust First Sencha the following year.
Japan’s First Senchas, just like China’s Qing Ming teas and India’s First Flush Darjeelings, are particularly exquisite because they contain the best of the compounds the plant has stored over the winter. The First Sencha harvest can last over a week or two. Extending the theory that earlier is better, Ichiban Senchas are particularly prized, as they are made from the very first leaves plucked during the first day or two of the First Sencha harvest.
Senchas have become so popular in Japan that the tea is now produced on a mass scale, often in lesser quality. Since World War II, a “deep steaming” method called fukamushi has been invented that breaks up the leaves into even finer filaments. These particles give the tea a stronger, less nuanced flavor and allow it to be brewed more quickly for people on the go. Of even greater concern, the demand for Sencha has begun to outpace supply, so much so that the Japanese have begun importing Japanese-style Senchas grown in China and passing them off as Japanese. Largely because of a lack of experience as well as inferior soil, these Chinese Senchas are usually dramatically inferior: grassy, yellow, and often harshly astringent. Generic Sencha teas sometimes contain some Chinese Sencha and are almost always made of a blend of the entire year’s harvests, not just the best from the spring. High-end Senchas like the three in this book are 100 percent Japanese and contain only the first spring leaves.
For the purposes of your palate, I recommend tasting the teas in this chapter in one of two ways: all at once, if possible, or in three groups of three. The first three are Senchas. The next three are Banchas. The final three are all grown in the shade. Because all nine are made up of much finer leaf particles relative to the more whole-leaf Chinese green teas, they can be brewed for as little as one minute, at between 160 and 175 degrees Fahrenheit.
MATSUDA’S SENCHA
Sencha is the finest expression of green tea, and Matsuda’s intensely brothy, vibrant brew is among the finest expressions of Sencha. Yoshihiro Matsuda lives in Japan’s great Uji tea region. His farm has been in his family for many generations, a small plot set halfway up a sloping hillside. It is unusual to find a farmer who makes the tea from start to finish; most growers in Japan—as in the rest of the world—take the tea only to a certain point, then sell it to processors to finish it. Matsuda, his wife, and his mother make and finish their exquisite green tea from beginning to end.
As a tea importer, I visit a lot of farms. Although they are fun to see, they usually don’t tell me much about the quality of the tea, as too much happens between the plant and the tin. Matsuda tends his fields with such care, his tea leaves are noticeably bigger, juicier, greener, and sweeter than those grown by his neighbors on the same hillside. While his neighbors use shading to make Kabuse Sencha, an innovation increasingly popular in the Uji region, Matsuda never covers his plants; he considers shading a shortcut, an unnatural flavor enhancer that boosts