Tasting Notes
Long steamed to accentuate the sweeter, less astringent characteristics of the tea, making a buttery smooth infusion enriched with fragments of leaf.
Quantity
Use 0.11oz of leaf per 5.1fl oz of water. (3g per 150ml).
Temperature
For the optimum infusion use 176°F (70°C) water.
Time
Infuse for 60 seconds, tasting regularly.
Infusions
You can infuse this tea at least six times. With each careful infusion, different subtleties of flavour are revealed.
Cost Per Cup
34¢ per cup based on 0.11oz of tea per 5.1 fl oz of water and 6 infusions.
After checking the fields everyday from the end of March to early April the farmer, Horiguchi-san, harvests the tea at the exact point the first bud has reached maturity.
The first flush is called "Shincha" in Japanese. Shin (新) means "new" and Cha (茶) means "tea" = "first tea of the season".
Sometimes also called "ichibancha" (first flush tea).
This changes the appearance and the taste - the longer steaming makes the tea taste softer and sweeter with less astringency. The tea leaves themselves become softer and more fragile when they are dried. As tiny pieces break off you get a deeper colour, more cloudy texture in your teacup.
The more broken appearance might make you think Fukamushi Shincha is of lesser quality – but just taste it to see that this is definitely not the case. Ingesting a little of this pure leaf means you get more of the rich nutrients than a pure, clear infusion.
