HOME > Green Tea > Shizuoka Deep Steamed Sencha
Deep Steamed Sencha is called Fukamushi Sencha in Japanese and has a very short history in Japan, although recently it is getting very popular. It is called Deep Steamed because the steaming process period is much longer than standard Japanese Green Tea such as Sencha and Gyokuro. Longer steaming process causes more destruction to the tea leaves. As a result, its taste is less bitter but very sweet and thick.
This tea is well accepted in Tokyo as the taste of tea when brewed is less influenced by water when brewing.
The character of Deep Steamed compare to Sencha is that the liquor shows a deeper green color, and gives a sweet taste with body. Most of Deep Steamed Sencha in Japan comes from Makinohara of Shizuoka Prefecture. However, Hojo particularly selects the Deep Steamed Sencha from Hon Yama. Originally, deep steamed sencha was developed in order to enjoy the low grade tea leaves which is produced at a lower altitute tea garden, which produces thick and astringent tea leaves. In general, the longer the steaming time, will result in a typical deep green liquor, sweetness and body but the greenish flavor is much weaker. If we wish to enjoy the characteristics of Deep Steamed tea as well as a refreshing greenish flavor of sencha, then, selecting the tea leaves from the tea garden located at Abe River stream which is located deep inside the mountain, and adjusting the steaming time, will result in getting us a green liquor, sweetness, body, and refreshing flavor of fresh tea leaves.
Abe River is one of the very steep and clear-water rivers in Japan. Along side the river, there are a number of slopes. This place usually generates fog and the daytime is short. These are good conditions to produce high quality tea. According to one of the literature (茶?集成), it is recorded that there were wild tea bushes found along the Abe River during the Kamakura Era. We assumed that the Abe River stream is a very suitable area for tea cultivation.
The literature (?福寺志) stated that the first tea bush was seeded by the monk who belonged to the Kamakura government (year 1244). According to the oldest record of Japanese Tea culture that was written in 1211 by the monk named Ei Sai (?西), Hon Yama tea was one of the oldest teas in Japan. Since then, various literatures showed that Shizuoka was a tea growing area. The fame of Hon Yama tea reached to maximum heights thanks to King Tokugawa Ieyasu who built the Edo Era. According to records, King Tokugawa constructed a tea store deep inside the mountain, upstream of Abe River in order to maintain the quality of His tea. During the Meiji Era (end of 18th century), the quantity of tea produced and exported was drastically increased. However, the tea produced along the Abe River was strictly meant for the Japan high end market. In order to differentiate their quality from ordinary green tea, the name Hon Yama was given as a brand to represent its premium quality. At present, the Shizuoka Prefecture produces the largest volume of green tea in Japan. The Shizuoka Town which is located nearby Abe River is known as the biggest trading market of Japanese green tea. Up to date, the Hon Yama tea always maintains a good reputation among the Shizuoka teas.
One of the quality criteria of Japanese green tea is its sweetness. It is the amino acid called theanine. The young bud is rich in theanine. When tea leaves absorb sunshine, theanine is biologically converted into polyphenol such as catechins, which gives a bitter taste. The tea garden of Hon Yama which is distributed along Abe River stream located on the slope of the mountain, approximately from mid-mountain to the upper area. The river constantly produces very thick fog which covers the tea garden and blocks out the sunshine. Without sunshine, the bio-conversion of theanine to polyphenol is slowed down. Therefore, Hon Yama tea contains a very high percentage of theanine.
Polyphenol is the substance which gives bitterness and astringency. Although some people may prefer the bitter taste of green tea, the high end Japanese green tea is supposed to be sweet. Thanks to the geographical factors, Hon Yama area always produces tea leaves that contain a high percentage of theanine. Hojo particularly selects tea from the Warashina River stream which is located deep inside Abe River stream, and selects the tea from tea gardens up on the mountain.
Hon Yama tea garden is sorrounded by small forest.
Hon Yama tea is produced from Yabukita. Starting from the end of April until the beginning of May, the first flush is plucked based on the criteria of one bud and two leaves. Hojo selects the first flush particularly the early batch. The reason is, soon after this period, the raining season starts and the tea plants grow very fast, which will cause the taste of tea to become thin.
Plucking is conducted after the sunrise in order to avoid the morning dew. Contamination of the morning dew will cause partial over-heating during the steaming process that will destroy the tissues of the tea leaves and affect the quality. Therefore, good Sencha must be produced from tea leaves plucked during a sunny day.
Tea leaves plucked from different tea gardens are segregated. Different tea gardens carry different lot numbers and will not be mixed in order to establish their clear traceability.
The characters of Deep Steamed Sencha is influenced by the steaming process. The conventional deep steamed sencha is steamed more than 1 minute, that makes the tea leaves very fragile, simultaneously the ingredient in tea leaves will be excessively oxidized which makes the taste very sweet and mild. We set our objective to develop a high-end deep steamed sencha and carry out research on the optimum raw material and steaming time. We also carry out intensive discussion with farmers and also the factory engineer of Hon Yama tea and we create a methodology to produce Deep steamed sencha from Hon Yama. Setting the steaming time shorter than conventional deep steamed, we manage to achieve very beautiful needle shaped leaves and also the fresh flavor of young spring leaves.
Tea leaves has to be quickly cooled down and at the same time evaporate the moisture. Immediate reduction of the wet heat is very important to avoid secondary heating of tea leaves.
Effectively drying by agitating the tea leaves under the hot air. At the same time, the mixing will soften the leaves.
This is the only process conducted without heat. The machine moves in circular motion with pressure that spread the moisture of the tea leaves evenly. The tea leaves generate heat due to the friction. Therefore, at regular intervals it is necessary to loosen the tea leaves and release the heat.
A rotary dryer is used, gently rolling the tea leaves to promote drying; reducing moisture, and twists the tea leaves into a finer shape.
It is a reciprocal movement of the back and forth motion, combined with circular movement twisting the tea leaves into a needle shape. High quality Sencha appeares to be dark green in color, shinny and solid.
After the final rolling, tea leaves still contain moisture. Further drying will reduce the moisture until 5%. These leaves are called Aracha (crude tea). Aracha does not undergo the firing process. Comparing with the finished product, the flavor of fresh leaves and bitterness is very strong.
Each tea wholesaler will purchase Aracha as raw material, and based on their individual process, they will conduct firing. This is how they create their original quality. Subsequently, they will blend a few kinds of tea and create a wholesaler’s original brand.
As for Hojo’s Hon Yama tea, we emphasize on the traditional taste and flavor of Hon Yama. The firing process is carried out by a technician who lives in Hon Yama based on their traditional method and process it into the identical Hon Yama taste. In particular, we conduct a very short firing process in order to enhance the delicate greenish fragrance of Hon Yama tea.
The leaves: the slimmer each leaf the better the quality. It reflects the tenderness of the tea leaf. During the process, old tea leaves will crack if intensive rolling process is attempted. Usually, tea leaves could not be rolled into fine needle shape and it becomes a flat shape or gets broken.
Using the early spring tea, thanks to the tenderness of the tea leaf, which is very elastic and can withstand the rolling procedure until a fine needle shape is formed.
The color of tea leaves must be dark green and glossy. Tea processed from the late harvest leaves tend to be grayish and light green in color with a dull appearance. This is because it contains less substances and moisture after undergoing the rolling process. Usually this tea gives a thin taste and cannot last for many brewings.
Japanese green tea does not maintain the whole leaf shape as cutting is part of the process after the final rolling.
Brewed tea leaves should be yellowish green in colour that indicates the young leaves are plucked. (Old leaves are green). When you hold the brewed tea leaf, it should be tender and soft.
The high end Japanese green tea gives a transparent and light yellowish green color.
Good tea leaves processed from the young leaves is tender and does not crack during the process. Therefore, it contains very little tea dust and gives a transparent liquor. On the contrary, the tea leaves produced from the late harvest leaves contain a lot of tea dust and that gives a greenish and clouded liquor.
The taste of Sencha consists of bitterness, astringency, sweetness (umami) and total balance. Each taste is reflected by different types of substance. Therefore, depending on the brewing method, the balance is influenced and results in a totally different taste. We suggest everyone to learn the standard method, and after understanding this standard method, developing your own method and enjoy your cup of tea.
In case of using tap water, it is necessary to boil for few minutes in order to vaporize the chlorine flavor. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to enjoy the authentic taste. If using commercial mineral water, soft water is better than hard water. Brewing tea with hard water will result in a taste that will be flat, and sometimes the liquor will be clouded. It is important to choose natural mineral water. Never use processed distilled water, and RO water as these water make tea becomes tasteless due to lack of mineral.
If brewing tea for 2-3 persons, tea leaves per person is about 3g.
If brewing tea for 1 person, tea leaves should be slightly more, about 5g.
It is important not to use boiling water. Boiling water should be poured into an empty glass or any container, let it cool down until you can hold the glass by hand for 5 seconds. Usually the temperature is relatively higher for Deep Steamed
Sencha at around 75-80 degree, 65-75 degree for Sencha and 45-60 degree for Gyokuro. For second brewing onwards,
gradually increase temperature by step-wise. Most importantly, do not jump up to boiling temperature. The more steps
you have before reaching to boiling temperature, the more number of brewing you can enjoy.
Pour the hot water into the tea pot, and brew for 1-2 minutes. It is advisable to use a clay tea pot as it improves the taste. Hojo recommends the “Tokoname” and “Banko” tea pot that contains a high percentage of iron. It reduces the astringency taste.
Traditionally, the Japanese never use a pitcher. The tea is directly poured from the tea pot into respective tea cups. In order to make the concentration evenly, we have to pour one cup after another, repeating a few times until the last drop of tea. The purpose of pouring until the last drop is to extract the concentrated liquor. This is important as tea leaves must be filtered well and kept without water to avoid the liquor becoming bitter and stewed. Besides, it prevents tea leaves from being over cooked. In addition, filtration will make it ready for the second brewing.
After pouring the tea, you have to leave the lid open to avoid further steaming of tea leaves.
Brewing tea at high temperature will give a bitterness and astringency while will overtake the sweetness which is the character of this tea. Therefore, brewing at lower temperature for longer time is important. However, if you prefer very hot and bitter taste, brewing at 90?C for 30 seconds is one of the ways, but controlling the timing is rather difficult and practise is necessary.
Most of Green Teas can be brewed in cold water. The better quality of tea will gives nicer taste both in cold
and hot water brewing.
1. Measure 1 table spoons of tea leaves for 500ml of water.
2. Pour in water and leave it for more than 1 hour.
3. Stir the container in order to even out its concentration.
4. Usually the taste of tea is getting thicker when it is brewed for more than a few hours. In this case,
5. top up additional water. Eventually tea can be brewed more than 1 liters per 1 table spoons.
6. Very low caffeine
The benefit of cold water brewing is Tea can last for whole day and the taste is natural sweet and refreshing. Thanks to the cold water extraction, the level of caffeine in tea is extremely low. You would not suffer from sleepless night. It can be
even enjoyed by kids.
Brewing tea at high temperatures will give the bitterness and astringency and will overtake the sweetness which is the character of this tea. Therefore, brewing at a lower temperature for a longer period is important. However, if you prefer a very hot and bitter taste, brewing at 90?C for 30 seconds is one of the ways, but controlling the timing is rather difficult and practising is necessary.
Keep in the refrigerator. We do not recommend storage in the freezer as tea leaves will deteriorate faster in the freezer. Tea has to be sealed tightly, otherwise, when tea is withdrawn from the fridge, it will get wet by condensation. When removing tea from fridge, leave it at room temperature to warm it up.
Fridge usually contains many other foods, and tea leaves will absorb and get contaminated with other flavors. Therefore, tea leaves has to be kept in a sealed container.
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