Between picking a tea leaf and the first sip there are often only a few days – but every single step decides whether your tea tastes fresh, mild and full-bodied or flat and bitter. Join us on the journey of our Sencha Miyazaki: from the tea garden in southern Japan to your cup.

The harvest: only the youngest leaves

For high-quality green tea, only the top two leaves and the bud of a shoot are picked in spring. They contain the most amino acids and give the typically sweet, fresh taste. Older, larger leaves taste harsher and end up in simpler varieties.

Timing is crucial: the first harvest of the year, called shincha, is particularly aromatic. It is followed in summer by further harvests with a stronger character.

“Good tea is not made in the factory but on the slope – processing can only preserve what the leaf brings with it.”

The guiding principle of our tea selection

Steaming, rolling, drying

To keep green tea green, the oxidation of the leaves is stopped right after the harvest. In Japan this is traditionally done with hot steam – hence the clear, slightly grassy taste of sencha.

  1. Picking

    The bud and two leaves are harvested and taken straight to processing.

  2. Steaming

    A few seconds of steam stop the oxidation and preserve colour and freshness.

  3. Rolling

    Rolling breaks up the cells and shapes the fine, needle-like leaves.

  4. Drying

    Gentle heat removes the remaining moisture – the tea becomes storable.

  5. Sealing

    We fill the tea into aroma-tight bags so that light, air and moisture stay out.

Green tea
Freshly sealed: this is how the aroma lasts until the last cup.

How to brew the perfect cup at home

Even the finest tea loses its character if it is brewed too hot or for too long. These values bring out the best in sencha:

Temperature
70–80 °C
Steeping time
60 sec.
Amount
4 g
Infusions
up to 3×
  • Let boiling water cool for two to three minutes, or pour it into an empty cup once.
  • Warm the teapot and cups so that the tea does not cool down too quickly.
  • Empty the teapot completely – leftovers in the leaves make the next infusion bitter.

From the article

Sencha Miyazaki

Green tea

Sencha Miyazaki

Conclusion

Good green tea is the result of many small decisions: the right harvest time, gentle processing, aroma-tight packaging – and, in the end, a few degrees less in the kettle. Take that one minute. Your tea will thank you.