What is shincha?

Shincha is a type of green tea that is made from the first tea leaves to hatch every spring. These leaves are usually harvested immediately, which means they are very small and the overall harvest is usually very limited. They are valued for a very concentrated taste and high nutrient content. This type of tea is harvested exclusively in Japan, and unlike many other varieties of green tea, it is often difficult to find outside this country.

In Japanese, the word shincha literally translates into "new tea". It is used only for the first harvest of green tea every season - the latest leaves after the winter. Tea plants are generally sleeping in winter. The first leaves that hatch in the spring in the spring are usually recipients of months of stored nutrients, giving them a unique taste that is easily replicated in the season. These leaves are valued for carrying the softest and finest taste of any solid tea.

harvest data is slightly different from year to year, but usually start in mid -April and last only a fewweeks. Tea farmers almost always choose leaves and usually sell them immediately. Many of the more popular tea estates have waiting lists every year to book the patrons a lot before the end of winter.

Shincha is one of the most valuable types of tea in Japan. It's also one of the most expensive. High costs usually concern the efforts associated with the selection of leaves and also with the required attention of the harvesters. Total production is also necessarily limited, which increases demand in many places.

quality also affects the price. Although Shincha's designation is reserved only for certain teas, there is no warranty that all leaves will lead to similar tea. Tea absorbs many characteristics of its location, and its quality depends on many things, including soil health, the roughness of the winter months and the number of days of sunlight. Some years are inevitably better than others and even teas from one farmThey are rarely identical compared to the seasons.

Depending on the estate, this type of tea can also be sold as ichibancha , which means "first selected tea". However, the designation of Ichibancha tea can also be applied to the first full harvest of the green tea season, which can lead to confusion. The leaves selected after the growth of the whole season usually have a much fuller taste than those characteristically associated with Shincha.

In addition to the circumstances of his harvest, there is little that Shincha separates from other varieties of Japanese green tea. It is mounted and dried in the same way - rated on wooden boards and stored in airtight cans or closed containers - and cooked for a moment of administration. Shincha enthusiasts usually advocate cooking new harvests shortly after drying, because the tastes tend to distract and decrease over time, regardless of how carefully the leaves are stored.