Merkaba Teas, Sencha, Green Tea

Origin: Japan.

Fresh, sweet, vegetal notes, refreshing and cooling. A true gem from the country of ceremony and perfection. Bright green color redolent
with energy and a pleasing comforting fragrance that reassures you like a wide open meadow.

Over three quarters of all tea produced in Japanese tea gardens is Sencha, a tea selected for its pleasant sharpness and fresh qualities
complementing a leaf of high uniformity and rich emerald color. Historically prepared by roasting, today Sencha is steam treated before
further processing with hot-air drying and finally pan-frying.

Most regions make a number of kinds of Sencha, which are named according to the kind of processing used. Needle leaf Sencha is
processed in Shizuoka and in the Yame region of Fukuoka. In other areas, including Kyushu, the comma-shaped leaf form is processed.

Sencha is the tea most likely to be offered in a Japanese household or restaurant. The higher grades of Sencha are available outside Japan

However, the flavor, color and quality of Sencha varies, depending not only on origin but also season and leaf processing practices
employed. Later harvests of Sencha have more astringent qualities, a more robust flavor and generally less aroma.

The earliest season Shincha (first month's sencha harvest) is available in April in the south of Japan, and prized for its high vitamin content,
sweetness and superior flavor.

All Japanese green tea is the same kind of tea. The differences are a matter of grade and additives. Japan's tea-making style is similar to
that during China's Tang dynasty, when the Buddhist monk Eisai brought tea from China to Japan. The fresh-picked leaves are steamed
thoroughly before drying, rather than withered before drying. The steaming makes the tea leaves immune to oxidation. Then the leaves are
dried and rolled into shape. Heat is further applied during that drying process.

The difference is what grade of leaf that you use to create the tea. Sencha is crafted from the smaller leaves, which have a more refined
taste.

Uji, Japan, just south of Kyoto, is the most famous tea-growing region in Japan. Most of the finest teas come from this region even though it
produces on 4 percent of Japan's tea.

Sencha has a natural sweetness; it's lively on the tongue, assertive, and clean. The infusion is green, unlike how Chinese green teas appear
yellow in a cup. Sencha goes very well with seafood, and its assertive taste even stands up to chocolate.

Sencha is a traditional Japanese steamed green tea with a soothing taste and fresh green scent that makes it a perfect everyday treat.