Vibrant yet smooth sipping Fukamushi - cherry pie and cereal sweetness combined with a thick and brothy intensity.
Fukamushi style sencha are steamed for longer (up to a minute) during the kill-green process which makes the tea thicker in texture and smoother in taste. The longer steaming means that the leaf becomes more fragile and breaks up during the rolling phase. While this may not look so great in the dry leaf, it produces a thick, cloudy and luminously vibrant green tea that will wow your senses.
This Fukamushi sencha is made from the Sakimidori cultivar grown in the southern tip of Japan. This cultivar was released in 1997 and yet is not often found, possibly because it is less resistant to damage than many other cultivars. The taste is sublimely brothy yet sweet with notes of cherry and cherry blossom combined with a cereal sweetness and a rich, vegetal satisfaction.
The Sencha is made from very early pickings in Kagoshima. This part of Japan has really become a wonderful area for tea production in recent years. It's proximity to the ocean gives the tea a certain sea-salt character and because it is a very southern region it produces earlier spring tea.
To brew Fukamushi Sencha you ideally need either a Kyusu with a metal filter, a brew basket or a flute brewer.
Learn more about Japanese Green tea and skip to 20:04 for an explanation about Fukamushi style tea:
Why shading makes a difference and how does it taste
Learn how to Ice Brew this tea:
AND my favourite way to brew this tea:
