Sencha: Understand the Leaf and Make a Cup You Like

You've just opened a package of sencha and wonder how to handle its fine leaves? This Japanese green tea is steamed, rolled and dried. You steep it, then remove the leaves before drinking. A gentle preparation lets its vegetal freshness emerge without imposing one method on every sencha.

We'd taste the first cup without milk to recognize what the leaf brings on its own. If you want a milk drink, that test will be less useful.

How are sencha leaves made?

After harvest, sencha tea leaves are steamed, then rolled before drying. That shaping often gives them an elongated form. In the teapot, the water takes on their flavor; the leaves don't remain in the cup you serve.

Look at them after steeping. Their shape and how they unfurl tell you more than the water's color alone. We still wouldn't judge a sencha by that observation: a pale cup can have a flavor you enjoy.

Tencha is a shaded leaf dried without rolling before it is milled into matcha. That processing explains why not every green powder is matcha.

How do you steep sencha without making the cup harsh?

Put the leaves in a teapot or filter. Pour in hot water that is no longer boiling, then remove the leaves. Start with the directions for the tea you've chosen. On the next try, keep the dose and change only the time or temperature.

We wouldn't change everything at once: a stronger cup can't tell you whether the water, time or leaves caused it. If you already like your preparation, there's no need to take it apart. A shorter steep can leave a clearer vegetal note.

What can sencha taste like?

It can be fresh, vegetal and sometimes astringent. Astringency is a dry sensation after a sip, distinct from bitterness. It varies with the leaf and the infusion. To recognize it, notice what remains after you swallow.

We like it when the freshness remains noticeable after a sip. For a stronger cup, leave the leaves a little longer, then taste before changing the method again. Your preference has its place.

Sencha, shincha or matcha: what does each name mean?

Sencha names a family of green tea leaves. Kabusecha describes leaves shaded before harvest. Shincha, or new tea, denotes the year's first harvest; it can therefore also be a sencha, without requiring another steeping method.

Made from milled tencha, matcha is mixed into water instead of strained. The texture you want to drink guides the choice between matcha and sencha. We'd choose sencha for an infusion of leaves, matcha for a bowl where the powder remains present.