Rich Body and After Taste: Uji Sencha Fukamushi

We quietly released Uji Sencha Fukamushi last year. Uji Sencha Fukamushi is not an ordinary fukamushi sencha.

A collaboration between sencha and fukamushi sencha

In Japanese, "fukamushi" means deeply steamed. Fukamushi sencha is produced by the standard process for making sencha, but with a longer steaming process than ordinary sencha. Sencha is steamed for about 20-30 seconds, while fukamushi sencha is steamed for more than 1 minute. Generally, fukamushi sencha contains very fine tea leaves, as the longer steaming breaks the leaves down. Uji Sencha Fukamushi is not a pure fukamushi sencha; it is a blend of sencha and fukamushi sencha. Our aim in blending was to balance the cup characteristics in terms of after taste, body and mouthfeel. We selected 3 different types of tea, each representing one of these characteristics.

Uji Sencha Fukamushi gives a thick mouthfeel, a strong after taste and a bold body

Uji Sencha Fukamushi has the thick mouthfeel typical of fukamushi sencha, as well as the strong after taste typical of naturally farmed tea. In addition, thanks to its thick body, the flavour of this tea spreads widely on the palate.

1. Body

Body is the horizontal sensation on the palate. When a tea has a strong body, the flavour becomes richer and the sweetness remains at the sides of the mouth. Normally, most Japanese green tea has very little body because of the absence of stems. Unlike in the old tradition, most tea manufacturers nowadays work very hard to remove tea stems for the sake of appearance; they think that tea leaves without stems look more beautiful because they give a homogeneous dark green colour. Ironically, it is the stem that gives body to the taste. You may imagine vegetables such as celery, spinach, spring onion or any brassica plant: it is always the stem that gives sweetness. The stem of a vegetable tastes sweeter not because it contains sugar, but because of its body. If you have ever tried Karigane (a Japanese sencha made of stems), you will probably understand what I mean. Karigane is a tea that contains only stems, and it gives an extraordinarily strong body. For most Japanese green tea, the stems are removed with a colour sorting machine, and you can hardly find a stem in so-called quality Japanese green tea. As we are aware of the importance of the stem to the taste, we have never removed the stems, so as to increase the body of the tea.

2. After taste

After taste can be described as a long-lasting taste, a lingering taste, a long finish, smoothness, softness or transparency. It is the vertical sensation we feel from the throat to the chest. Generally, most Japanese green tea lacks after taste. This is due to modern agricultural practice: farmers apply an excessive amount of fertilizer in order to increase the theanine content. Theanine is the substance that gives the umami sensation, a taste very similar to that of so-called Ajinomoto. With the addition of fertilizer, tea trees synthesize theanine in order to store the excessive nitrogen. Tea gardens managed with modern agricultural practices generally produce tea that is rich in amino acids. On the other hand, the quantity of polyphenols is inversely proportional to the quantity of theanine. Naturally farmed tea contains a much higher amount of polyphenols, and it gives a stronger after taste. We selected Uji Sencha Jubuzan as the tea in charge of the after taste.

3. Mouthfeel

Naturally farmed sencha gives a very deep after taste and a clear, transparent sensation when we drink it. I wanted to add a thick mouthfeel on top of the deep after taste. That is why I decided to blend in Ujitawara fukamushi sencha. Ujitawara (宇治田原) is one of the towns that produce quality Uji sencha.

By blending these 3 types of tea, we managed to balance three essential sensations of taste. Thanks to the right level of after taste, body and mouthfeel, you will feel a three-dimensional sensation. Since this tea is very rich in minerals, we suggest brewing it at a high temperature for a short time. For our own brewing, we use boiling water and brew for less than 20-30 seconds.

Our Japanese green teas are available in our Japanese green tea collection.