Asamiya Sencha, the Rare Japanese Green Tea with a Full Body

Asamiya sencha (朝宮煎茶) is from Shigaraki, Koka city in Shiga prefecture. Asamiya is a district that belongs to Shigaraki town. The taste of Asamiya sencha is very rich and full-bodied, and it leaves a lingering sweetness on the palate. In fact, a full-bodied character is extremely rare for Japanese green tea.

Asamiya is a place gifted with special clay

The reason why Asamiya sencha gives a strong body is the soil condition. In Japan, Shigaraki is one of the 6 famous kilns. The clay in Shigaraki is rich in alkaline minerals such as potassium and calcium, and Shigaraki clay has been used for making various types of tea ware throughout history.

The Shigaraki area used to be the bottom of the old Lake Biwa

The Shigaraki area was at the bottom of a lake a few million years ago. The lake later moved north with further crustal movement. In Japan, the ancient lake around the Shigaraki and Iga area is called Kobiwako (古琵琶湖): Ko means old, and Biwako means Lake Biwa (琵琶湖). If tea is grown in soil with a rich mineral content, there is no doubt that this will be reflected in its taste.

Many brands of sake produced in Shigaraki have a full-bodied character

As a matter of fact, it is not only the tea from Asamiya that is rich in body; the rice, vegetables and even sake from these areas have a full-bodied character. If you have a chance to visit Japan, I suggest you look for sake made in either Shigaraki or Iga. The sake from these areas is less expensive, yet it gives a very deep after taste as well as a full body. Good things are often less popular. One of our clay teapot lineups, the Kobiwako clay teapot, is also from these areas. Thanks to the clay collected from the bottom of the lake, the taste of tea is very rich when brewed in a Kobiwako clay teapot.

Most Japanese green tea loses its body during processing

In Japan, very few teas have a full-bodied character. This is because of distorted quality criteria in Japan. Japanese people care a lot about appearance, and most Japanese teas are processed with a colour sorting machine in order to remove the stems completely.

Manufacturers in Japan do not like to see the stems, as they contrast in colour with the leaves. After the stems are removed, the colour of the tea leaves becomes homogeneous. Manufacturers feel that a homogeneous colour looks more beautiful and is the appearance a good tea should have. However, the role of the stem in the taste is much more important than they imagine.

The stem contributes to the sweetness, body and richness of the taste

Have you ever tried the tea called Karigane or Bocha? These teas consist only of tea stems. Surprisingly, the taste is very rich in body, and you can enjoy the fullness of a sweetish taste on your palate. This sweetness comes from specific minerals in the stems, such as calcium. If you imagine eating vegetables such as spinach, celery or any brassica plant, don't you think that the stem is sweeter than the leaf? You may feel that the white, pale part of a spring onion is sweeter than the green leaf too. This is because, in plant metabolism, calcium only reaches as far as the stem. If tea contains no stems, its taste becomes too clear and transparent. In fact, stems were not removed in Japan in the past. Our parents used to tell us that we would have good luck if a tea stem stood up in our cup of tea. Today, we will never find a stem in our cup. Considering the above facts, we purposely did not remove the stems from this tea. As a result, the tea gives extra body and a fuller taste on the palate.

Deep after taste thanks to natural farming

The Asamiya sencha that we introduce is made from naturally farmed tea. It is also of the Zairai variety. The Zairai variety means the tea trees are planted from seed. Their roots are deeper and longer than those of cultivars such as Yabukita. The flavour of Asamiya sencha is very clear, with a slight floral note, a hint of sweet nutty flavour and also a little fruitiness. It reminds me of young grapes or citrus fruit.

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