Japanese Sencha Chumushi Green Tea – Extra Superior Quality

Description

Japanese sencha chumushi green tea opens with a color that reads before it is tasted: a deep, clear jade that holds in the cup long after steeping. The liquor settles, and the room quiets with it.

Uji, on the southern edge of Kyoto Prefecture, has supplied tea to imperial kitchens and ceremony masters for over eight centuries. The terroir, shaped by river mist and temperature variation between hill and valley floor, produces leaves with high chlorophyll retention and a concentration of umami compounds rarely achieved elsewhere in Japan. Chumushi, meaning deep-steamed, subjects fresh-picked leaves to a longer steam period than standard sencha, halting oxidation at an earlier point and producing a fuller-bodied, darker liquor than most Japanese greens.

The dry leaf is finer and more powdery in texture than conventional sencha, a result of the extended steaming that softens cell walls and increases the surface area available during rolling. In the cup this translates to fast, full extraction: water between 70 and 75 degrees Celsius, 2 grams per 100 ml, sixty to ninety seconds. Color is deep jade, aroma carries grass and sea, and the finish is long and slightly sweet with minimal astringency. Multiple infusions reward patience.

Japanese sencha chumushi green tea. Origin: Uji-shi, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Deep-steamed process (chumushi). Fine-textured loose leaf. Recommended brew: 70 to 75 degrees C, 2 g per 100 ml, 60 to 90 seconds. Multiple infusions possible. Grade: extra superior. Format: sealed resealable pouch.

The cup changes at sixty seconds. Patience here is not a virtue but a technique. Uji tea asks only for attention.