2023 Kagoshima Shincha Saemidori

Fresh spring Shincha from Kagoshima (Kirishima), South Japan. The leaves from the bushes of the Saemidori cultivar were collected by machine, then moderately steamed and only slightly heated during the final drying. Dark green leaves were processed into regular needles and have a delicate sweet fruity scent. Thanks to a slightly higher steaming of the leaves during the termination of the oxidation processes, the leaves are partially broken. Bright green tea colour in a cup with a delicate, soft, slightly oily, sweet taste with notes of sweet corn, asparagus, basil and walnuts.

Preparation: 1 teaspoon (5 g) of tea for 200 ml of boiled water, cooled down to 55 - 60°C, steep for 50 seconds. For the second infusion, cool the water down to 65 - 70°C, steep only for 15 seconds. You can prepare more infusions in a similar way.

Shincha - literally "new tea".
In Japan, a first tea harvest is a big event and people buy this tea for astronomical amounts of money during the first days.

First harvest
In Japan, tea is first picked and processed into the Aracha "crude" tea, which still contains all stems and leaves. Water content, though, is already reduced to 7 – 8%. Subsequently, teas from various varieties of tea plants are tasted and divided by liquor color and taste. Shincha is then produced directly from a mixture of selected teas, the remaining Aracha is stored in cooling boxes. During final processing, teas are steamed again and the resulting moisture is about 3%.
Tea-growing regions produce various kinds of this tea depending on their processing method. Shincha is the only type that is made directly from fresh harvests. Other types of tea are made from Aracha, which is stored for years in cooling containers.
Shincha with needle-shaped leaves is especially known from the Shizuoka region, Shincha with leaves shaped as small lines comes from the Kyushu Island.
Shincha from the Kagoshima area in southern Japan (Kyushu Island) is processed by "deep steaming". This method gives it a sweet, slightly astringent taste, notably "spring" aroma and liquor of bright emerald color.