Tasting profile
Primary tasting notes
- Apple BlossomA delightfully floral tea!
- Pastry DoughLike some Middle Eastern cookies that use rose water in baking.
- Tomato VineA fresh, crisp and stimulating sort of greenness.
Why is shincha special?
Shincha — literally "new tea" — is the very first harvest of the Japanese green tea season, picked in early spring before any other leaves are cut from the plant. After a long winter's rest, the tea bushes concentrate an extraordinary depth of nutrients, amino acids, and natural sweetness into those first tender leaves. The result is a cup that tastes unmistakably alive: brighter, fresher, and more nuanced than teas harvested later in the year. Shincha is produced in limited quantities each spring and doesn't keep — it's meant to be savored in the moment, a true celebration of the season.
What is Fukamushi Shincha?
Fukamushi means "deep-steamed" — a processing style where freshly picked leaves are steamed two to three times longer than in conventional sencha. This extended steaming breaks down the leaf structure, producing a tea with a notably rich, full body, a deep jade-green color in the cup, and a smooth, mellow flavor with less astringency.
Fukamushi and Kagoshima
Kagoshima, Japan's southernmost major tea-growing prefecture, became closely associated with fukamushi production because its strong sunlight and warm climate grow leaves that are thicker and more robust — well-suited to the deep-steaming process, which tames their intensity into something round and satisfying. The result is one of the most approachable and lush expressions of Japanese green tea.
