Shizuoka Sencha Tamakawa

A Japanese sencha from the Shizuoka region, made from Yabukita tea bushes grown at an altitude of about 450 meters. Sencha Tamakawa comes from the tea gardens of the Hiraoka family farm, located in the picturesque landscape of the upper Abe River valley, north of Shizuoka. Sencha Tamakawa is distinguished by its distinctive, warm aroma, which develops during the final stage of processing the leaves as they are heated.

How to prepare Sencha tea

Use 5 grams of tea leaves for 0.5 litre of boiling water cooled to 75–80 ᵒC, steep for 60 seconds. Infuse the second infusion for 30 seconds and the third for 60 seconds. Feel free to experiment with steeping time, water temperature, and the amount of tea leaves. You can also read our articles on tea preparation and water quality. These tea leaves are also suitable for Asian-style preparation, which includes multiple infusions: you steep 5 grams of tea leaves per 150 ml of water that has boiled and cooled to 70–75 ᵒC for 20 seconds and in the following three infusions, you steep the leaves for 10, 40, and 50 seconds, respectively. You can also try steeping the leaves in lukewarm water at 37 ᵒC for 7 minutes, or in slowly melting ice.

About the Yabukita cultivar

It was bred by Sugiyama Hikosaburō. It was first discovered in Mr. Sugiyama's garden, which stretched north of the bamboo grove. Her discoverer named it accordingly. Yabukita means North of Bamboo Grove. Yabukita was selected as a propagated cultivar in 1945 and registered in 1953. Due to its expansion today, it is taken as a unit of measure in comparison with other cultivars. The ratio of the qualities of this cultivar far exceeds the other cultivars, which is why it is so popular. These are strong shrubs with a rich yield, decent resistance to cold and disease, and high adaptability to different types of environments. Today, they make up about 70 % of all cultivated tea trees in Japan.