Sencha Tea

Sencha is a general term that describes "ordinary" green tea from Japan. Ordinary is somewhat of a misnomer, however, because some are many are very refined. Sencha is processed in a variety of ways pan fried, basket fried or steamed. The rolling of the leafs at the end of processing shapes the leaf into a point that is referred to as spider leg.

Sencha accounts for roughly three quarters of Japan's tea product much of which is mechanically harvested. Finest sencha is known as "ichiban-cha" or number one tea and comes from the year's first flush. The taste is more delicate than sencha harvested later in the year. Also sought after are second flush senchas or niban-cha which are harvested after the 15th of May each year.