Spring, and the arrival of Shincha
May 7th, 2008 by Brian Lavelle
Well, in a twist on the title and content of a slightly earlier post, I’m delighted to say that Spring definitely seems to have sprung around these parts. The temperature and sunshine over the last few days has been consistently good. Maybe I’m speaking too soon, but it is May, after all…
Perhaps I’m wrong, but what may be heightening my mood even more so than the upturn in the weather is that two of my packages of Shincha have just arrived from O-Cha.com.
I tried the first of these today, the Uji Shincha Kirameki. The aroma of the leaf in the just-opened package is wonderful: fresh, grassy with an astonishing sweetness that’s hard to compare to anything else.
My parameters for brewing the first infusion were as follows:
A measured amount of 4.0g of the beautiful deep-green grassy leaf in a pre-heated kyusu with 200ml of water at a temperature of approximately 65°C for 1.5 minutes.
The first infusion is light and grassy, with a soft mouthfeel and no bitterness whatsoever. As you might anticipate with a good first flush tea, there is no hint of the kind of ‘tiredness’ you find in older senchas. There’s a slightly sweet flavour to this but the overall impression is of lightness. The liquor is faintly transparent green, with yellowish tints. The shorter steep time may account for this, but it’s recommended that the brewing time be reduced for a shincha and also that the temperature be reduced slightly. I’ve no complaints with that advice at all; it certainly worked for me.
The liquor of the second infusion was cloudier and greener (pictured here). It has more of an initial impact on the tastebuds in the mouth; slightly more bite than the first infusion. It’s very good indeed and confirms my view that the second infusion is the more representative of the power of a particular sencha.
I managed to get good fourth and fifth infusions of this tea before I had to call it a day. And that was down to me, and the lateness of the hour, rather than the tea. I don’t doubt that if I’d persisted the tea would happily have given more. I’ve not experienced that in a Japanese tea before. Whilst this tea may be relatively expensive—$37.95 for a 100g bag—I can’t complain, particularly if each 4g kyusu of the tea gives at least five delicious infusions. That’s about $0.30 or £0.15 per 200ml yunomi. As they say, you do get what you pay for.
I’ll be interested to compare this Shincha to the other (less expensive) O-Cha.com Shincha I received: the Shizuoka Sencha Hatsumi. More on that one at a later date.
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[Edit: 9 May 2008: I've had a couple of further sessions with the Kirameki and, thanks to Ryan's advice, have had even more enjoyment from this Shincha. I increased the leaf to water ratio—in fact, I used a smaller kyusu, using approximately 4 grams to about 150ml of water—and increased the temperature to approximately 75°C.]
Brian, wonderful to hear your impression and experience of this tea. I haven’t gotten my order yet >:-( You have emphasized a belief I’ve had all along. Sencha is one of life’s finer pleasures. Enjoy your tea! I look forward to your impressions of Hatsumi.
Nice review. You’ve inspired me to order a bag of Kirameki. This is a light steamed tea? Have you tried other teas from Tsuen?
I’m a little surprised at your brewing technique. In Japan, a shincha is typically brewed with double the amount of tea you’ve used - maybe 8g per 200ml for 60-75 seconds, and a bit hotter, 70C- 75C. Have you tried the Kirameki this way as well? Not knocking your style, just curious why you prefer to brew this way.
Thanks Bamboo Forest. I think your belief is absolutely right; the whole ceremony of Japanese tea carries with it a great deal of pleasure. And I hope your Shincha arrives soon!
@ Nobodyspecial: the original recommendation I got was for that amount of leaf to water ratio. I checked that again and that still seems to stand. I think with 8 grams the tea would be really too strong. I’ll certainly try it at a higher temperature.
Well, even in Japan it varies a great deal, and depends on a lot of things. Even common sencha is prepared differently depending on what time of day it is (different styles for morning, lunch, and after supper tea sessions), but most often shincha was prepared for me with the proportions I gave above and that’s how I learned to prepare it. I’m sure there is no single correct way and perhaps I don’t know as much about tea as I think. Now that I’ve actually searched for instructions, your proportions seem to be more common.
Just to prove I’m not completely out to lunch though (but these are for sencha, not shincha in particular):
http://www.ujicha.com/shouhokuen%20pages/english-f/e-matigai2-1-f.html
http://www.hibiki-an.com/readings/how-to-enjoy-green-tea.html
http://www.maiko.ne.jp/english/sencha.htm
http://www.kyoto-teramachi.or.jp/horaido/instruction.htm
I have tried many different techniques for brewing sencha. Sometimes, using a lot of leaf and shorter steep times muddies up the brew, and you don’t get the deeper flavors that are produced with a longer steep time. I’ve experimented, and found that it is simply not true that more leaf, and shorter time always produce the best cup. Instead, often is the case, moderate amounts of leaf, with an extended brew time… This often makes the best cup, in my opinion. It probably comes down to, using a ton of leaf with a really short steep time will only extract certain flavors from the leaf, and others will not be extracted.
@ Nobodyspecial: Thanks for that. I totally accept there’s a number of different methods and styles of Sencha/Shincha brewing. Part of the enjoyment of all of this for me is experimenting, I suppose. And I certainly don’t think you out to lunch at all!
In this instance, I just went with the recommendations given by the vendor of this particular Shincha. Didn’t want to ruin my first infusion!
@ Bamboo Forest: Thanks for your comment. Has your own Shincha arrived yet? Hope you’re already enjoying that.
Yes Brian, I opened the Kirameki. It is, indeed, excellent. Talk about an elegant tasting tea - this is it.
@ Nobodyspecial: It is true, many Japanese vendors recommend very high leaf to water ratios. With gyokuro is where I use the highest leaf to water ratio, at 1 gram per 1 ounce. I just don’t find the higher amounts of sencha to water that some vendors recommend to produce the ideal cup. Though, I’m constantly experimenting, and trying to see what works well.
I’m drinking Kirameki this morning. I tried 4 grams per 5 ounces this time around. Temperature around 165 F. Steep time at 1:15. This is the best session I’ve had. I’d even be willing to go up to 5:5 with this sencha. This one performs well with more leaf to water ratio, I have found. But not all senchas do for my taste. Furthermore, I would never go beyond the 1:1 ratio as I think at that point the upside would no longer be existent. 1:1 is pretty much on par with Hibiki-An’s recommendations. I try to judge each sencha individually, as they seem to demand different parameters based on their unique qualities. Well, that was my Kirameki update. And as always, everyones palate is unique.