Ichiban Sencha

Harney & Sons Ichiban Sencha tea tin, black and gold design, 3 oz, handpacked in Millerton, NY.

41710 Green Tea

Ichiban Sencha

Name: How to Brew Ichiban Sencha
Cook time: 2 min
Total time: 2 min
Yield: 1 cup
Cuisine: Green Tea
Ingredients: Green tea

$ 115.00

Select Packaging Type:Loose

Select Unit:1 lb. Bag

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Description

Mike, Brigitte, and Elvira visited the Otsuka family in the spring of 2026. They day we arrived was the very first day for this tea and this tea season! The Otsuka family has been growing tea in the coastal hills of Kakegawa for nearly 150 years, and their devotion to the craft is visible from the fields themselves: one nearby hill has been trimmed into the shape of the Japanese character for "tea." This Ichiban is their pride, made from the tea fields that surround their factory.

"Ichiban" means "first," and this tea earns the name( Ichibancha) , harvested in the earliest days of the season, typically late April, when the young leaves are at their most concentrated. The tea plant has had all winter to accumulate theanines that give good body and sweetness. And the cathechins (like EGCG) have not yet overpowered the theanines. It is made at an old, traditional factory and then finished at their plant. The result is a sencha with real presence: bright and vegetal upfront, with a clean citrus lift that keeps it lively through the finish. Compared with the polished and almost pastoral quality of Matsuda's Sencha, this Ichiban has the punch and intensity of Tokyo's rush hour.

Mike's Rating

2 Briskness

3 Body

3 Aroma

Details: Ichiban Sencha, a deep-steamed Sencha, is the first production from the all-important Kakegawa area within Shizuoka, Japan's most important tea-growing prefecture.

Dry Leaves: A fine mix of leaf filaments that are light green and powdery. This is due to the deep-steam (Fukumushi) method of fixing the tea green. The leaves are subjected to an extra thirty seconds of high-pressure steam that totally breaks up the tea leaf.

Liquor: This tea is a light green, and it is a little clouded from the fine leaf particles that are dissolved in the liquor. Thisis because it is deep steamed.

Aroma: Ichiban has citrus top notes of lemon juice that are balanced by dark vegetal aromas of spinach and nori seaweed.

Flavors: The style of this sencha is bracing and lemony at the start, with the mellowness of cooked spinach at the finish. It is among the most assertive of the senchas that we offer. The guttiness and astringency come from the deep-steamed production method.