Japanese loose tea, or sencha, was first produced and brewed in the 17th century. Today it is the most popular Japanese tea, making up 80% of total tea production in Japan. You can buy Japanese sencha tea in our shop, grown on plantations of Shizuoka, Kagoshima, Mie, Nara, Kyoto, Saga, Fukuoka, Miyazaki and Aichi. Shortly before the harvest, the tea bushes are shaded to reduce tannin content. This results in the tea having a mild, sweet flavour without any bitterness. The plucked buds and leaves are steamed, then rolled and dried. The highest-grade handmade sencha is called gyokuro.
In addition to these classic varieties we offer hojicha, a Japanese tea Japanese tea which appeared in the early twentieth century under the influence of mainland technology. The plucked buds and leaves are steamed and rolled and then dried without fermentation, roasted in porcelain trays over charcoal.
Genmaicha is sencha of late harvest, mixed with roasted brown rice grains of two types, sticky mochigome and crumbly uruchigome. The rice breaks during roasting and takes the form of beads.
Finally, bancha is made as well as sencha, but the leaves are with stems. This is your everyday budget tea with a simple, strong taste.
