Description
Keiko Shincha 2023 – Spring Feelings in your Tea Cup
Shincha – the “new tea” – heralds the beginning of the tea year every spring. The first tea made from the fine, particularly aromatic leaf tips, picked in the subtropical climate of Kagoshima in mid-April after 7-10 days of shading. In order to capture the fresh aroma in the best possible way, Shincha is dried a little more lightly than is usually the case with Sencha. Even two Shinchas from the same garden can turn out to be completely different. Because depending on cultivar, weather conditions, harvest time and processing, it will always produce new exciting tea experiences.
The 3 KEIKO Shinchas provide a good impression of this range of flavors. With their scent and taste, they take us into very different scenarios. However, what they have in common is the fresh spring feeling that they bring into your tea bowl.
Shincha Yakushima – a light steamed Kabusecha Shincha
Shincha Yakushima is the fresh Shincha tea from the first spring harvest on the small island of Yakushima. The same locates offshore the larger island of Kyushu, on the most southern tip of Japan. For best quality of this tea, only the new spring’s youngest buds and leaves qualify for picking. Moreover, Shincha Yakushima is a single-variety tea, based exclusively on tea plants of the Jabukita cultivar. It’s originator is the Fujiwara family, the first to cultivate tea amidst Yakushima’s natural abundance of cedar forests. And the first to adopt the principles of the EU health and environment-friendly standard requirements.
Fujiwara tea garden, Yakushima
Shincha Yakushima 2023
The variety: Yabukita from the island of Yakushima, farm of Fujiwara, organic tea growing pioneer in Yakushima. As one of the few exceptions in the KEIKO range, the Shincha Yakushima is only slightly steamed (Asamushi) and therefore has a pleasantly light-footed, sweet-flowery aroma. Especially in the later infusions, the tea develops a delicate cherry note. The cup color is clearer and lighter than that of heavily steamed teas and has a hay-green tint. With its fresh, mildly sweet aromas, Shincha Yakushima is also highly recommended for green tea beginners.
Let this tea pamper you with the fresh, light nuances of taste rippling along with a warm breeze of fine toasty aromas and the scent of delicate flowers on the spring-like mountain meadow. The tea unfolds its full flavor spectrum across several infusions. At this, nutty almond notes combine with light herbal notes, which elegantly blend together. This is how Shincha Yakushima becomes the princess among KEIKO Shinchas, captivating with a young, fine elegance, arousing the joy of life and making it enjoyable with all your senses!
Shincha Yakushima also comes in a decorative 50g box, qualifying it as a valuable gift idea as well. But beware! Due to the limited availability of nature, we can only offer this tea once a year. And only for a short time … So get your package now!
What is Shincha?
In Japan, the term Shincha refers to the fresh teas from the first days of the spring harvest. However, in order to qualify as Shincha in the narrower sense, green tea needs to meet even more conditions. So, processing and airtight sealing needs to take place immediately upon picking. Plus, shipping to the end consumer needs to take place on the quickest possible way. Due to their exceptionally fresh and exhilarate taste and fragrance, the new spring season’s fresh teas enjoy highest popularity both in Japan and among green tea lovers worldwide. By the way, early pickings such as the Shincha Yakushima are particularly high in theanine, being noticeable in the sweet taste.
What is “Kabusecha” / “Kabuse Cha” ?
Shincha Yakushima is a Kabusecha tea. Kabusecha tea (also: “Kabuse Sencha”) is a typical Japanese (half-shaded) green tea. In particular, it defines through the half-shading of the tea gardens with “Kabuse” nets during the days/weeks before picking. Also, the shading period causes a time delay in the tea’s way to market. That is, compared to unshaded Shincha (“Shincha Sencha”), going to market several weeks earlier. In favor of a higher quality of the tea, the tea bushes thrive under Kabuse nets (jap: net = kabuse) during the last (up to 3) weeks before the harvest.
The “Kabuse Cha” Method
Unlike Gyokuro Tea, for which shading is done for several weeks before the harvest, the Kabusecha shading method comprises a “half-shading”. For example, shading takes place for up to 3 weeks before picking for our Kabusecha Tenko). At this, the Kabuse nets filter out ca. 50% of the sunlight (compared to ca. 90% for Gyokuro). Therefore, Kabusecha tea is also commonly referred to as half-shaded tea. Due to the shading, the tea leaves develop a high content of chlorophyll and other active substances while reducing bitter substances at the same time. Their characteristic “shade aroma” is called “ooika”.
The idea behind the Kabusecha method is that of the recreation of natural conditions. This means a part-shading of the tea bushes as would take place through trees and larger bushes in natural environments. The ca. 50% withdrawal of light during this period triggers activities in the tea plant. These again lead to an altered composition of the ingredients. As result, the tea shows higher amounts of amino acids (e.g. Theanine) and alkaloids (e.g. Caffeine, Theophyllin). Also, a reduction of bitterns (e.g. Catechine) is notable, among others resulting in a higher sweetness of the tea. Another effect of the shading is the enhancement of the aromatic fragrance and deep green color of the tea.
In order to achieve optimal exploitation of the active ingredients and to prevent oxidation processes, the freshly picked deep green tea leaves undergo steaming, cooling, rolling and drying according to the standard procedure of Japanese green tea processing. The producer of this Shincha tea is health and environment-friendly-certified to both Japanese and EU standards. They vacuum the tea immediately upon completion of the processing cycle. This way, the active substances, aromatic fragrance and intensive taste remain preserved throughout the tea’s streamlined way to distant shores. And right up to your tea cup!
Our preparation recommendation:
Pour 200ml water (as soft as possible) of a temperature of 60-70°C over 4g Shincha Yakushima (Kabusecha) tea leaves in a suitable vessel (clay, glass or porcelain are best). For a first infusion, leave for 1-2 minutes, according to personal taste. Then, a second and third infusion need to infuse 10-20 seconds each only for best taste. After that, there is sufficient potential for a fourth infusion with 2 minutes steeping at 90°C.
For more Shincha teas at Siam Tea Shop, please click on the following link:
For more information about Japanese green teas, please also read our dedicated artible in Siam Tea Blog:
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.