Shizuoka Sencha green tea

Shizuoka Sencha is a Japanese green tea from Shizuoka, one of Japan’s best-known tea-growing regions. The area’s mountainous landscape, abundant rainfall and long-established tea culture have played an important role in Japanese tea production for centuries.

This tea is a fukamushi sencha, meaning that it is steamed for longer than a typical sencha. In Japanese green tea production, the freshly harvested leaves are steamed shortly after picking to stop oxidation. In fukamushi processing, the steaming stage is longer, after which the leaves are rolled, shaped and dried in several stages.

The longer steaming softens the structure of the leaves and makes them more delicate and brittle, so the presence of finer leaf particles in the finished tea is entirely natural. During infusion, more of these fine particles may pass into the liquor, contributing to the characteristic appearance and character of fukamushi sencha.

Its flavour combines fresh vegetal notes, delicate sweetness and pleasant umami with the gentle astringency characteristic of sencha. The longer steaming gives the tea a full, intense character while preserving the vibrant freshness associated with Japanese green teas.

Shizuoka is one of Japan’s most important tea-growing regions, with a tea-growing tradition stretching back several centuries. Tea plantations established across its mountain slopes and valleys have become an important part of Japanese tea culture.

One of the defining features of sencha production is steaming. Unlike the pan-firing commonly used for Chinese green teas, Japanese green tea leaves are typically steamed, then rolled and dried. This processing method plays an important role in creating the fresh, vegetal character associated with Japanese green teas.

Fukamushi, or longer-steamed sencha, developed later and became particularly closely associated with Shizuoka’s tea culture. The method was developed to produce a fuller, more intense yet smooth style of sencha. Today, fukamushi sencha is one of Shizuoka’s distinctive green tea styles.

Use 4–5 g of tea per 150–200 ml of water, preferably in a Japanese kyusu teapot. Allow the water to cool to 70–75 °C, then steep the first infusion for 1.5–2 minutes.

The tea can be infused 4–5 times. For subsequent infusions, adjust the steeping time according to taste.

Because the longer steaming used for fukamushi sencha results in a finer and more delicate leaf structure, the tea infuses relatively quickly. Take care not to over-steep it, helping to preserve its pleasant sweetness, umami and fresh character.