Sencha is Healthy and Delicious
For the finest sencha, harvesters pick either the bud or the bud plus the youngest leaf.
The top two leaves and the bud are prized both for their fullness of flavor and their ability to be twisted or rolled into a variety of shapes.
The highest quality sencha from Uji.
Most tea harvested in Japan is graded as sencha
The quality of sencha is, however, highly variable. Quality depends on the tea's origin, the season, and harvesting techniques that are employed.
The finest organic sencha from Kyushu.
After sencha leaves are picked they are immediately taken away for processing. The methods are markedly different than for black teas. To make black tea, the fresh leaf is withered by exposure to air and is broken and left to ferment after picking.
For sencha, the leaf is not fermented at all. It is steamed immediately after harvesting to stop the fermentation process. Sencha is dried after steaming and, when dry enough, rolled into a variety of shapes until it is completely dry.