In 1731, a Japanese Zen priest observed Chinese immigrants, living in Nagasaki, drinking sencha – steeped or infused tea. Sencha liberated tea drinkers from the rigid rules and expensive tea room decorations of chanoyu and represented a rejection of the chanoyu regime.
What is sencha? Is it a type of tea leaf? Is it a ceremony? Is it a custom? It is all the above.
Sencha the Tea Leaf
Seventy-five percent of Japanese green tea production is sencha. Harvested leaves are machine picked, de-stemmed, steamed, withered, rolled, and quick dried. The quick drying forms the leaves into a needle-like shape called spiderleg.
Sencha has different grades. The highest grade – first flush – is harvested in April. This grade has a delicate flavor and a floral aroma. Second flush is picked after May 15. Second flush has a stronger aroma, darker brew, and robust flavor. Later flushes are used in lower-grade Japanese teas. Around one percent of Japanese tea is exported.
Sencha the Tea Ceremony
Sencha means “fire tea”, referring to infusing or steeping tea in boiling water. In the eighteenth century, a Zen priest nicknamed Chuko Baisao – meaning “revival” (chuko) and “old man who sells tea” (baisao) – popularized sencha. He left the monastery, sold sencha, and spread the teachings of the “sencha spirit” in Kyoto. Baisao believed that chanoyu was corrupt and that there was a need to revive the first “way of tea” as formulated in Lu Yu’s Ch’a Ching, which formed the foundation of the “sencha spirit”.
After Baisao’s death, Kimura Kendado and Priest Daiten Kenjo continued his teachings. Kendado translated and published Secrets of Steeped Tea by Ye Zhuan. The book described two ways to steep tea: sencha and encha.
According to the sencha way, the tea leaves are placed in boiling water and the tea steeps while the water simmers. According to the encha way, the tea leaves are placed in an empty tea pot and hot water is poured over the leaves. This method was preferred, because boiling water tended to ruin sensitive Chinese tea leaves.
Sencha the Custom
Sendo – the way of sencha – is the self-conscious and idealized consumption of tea made by steeping tea leaves in the freshest hot water, requiring fewer utensils and etiquette rules. This simple ceremony extended tea preparation and drinking to all social classes. Properly serving sencha became the mark of a person well versed in the social graces. The sencha ceremony was founded on the belief that tea benefited spiritual and physical health.
Sencha in Present-Day Japan
Japanese people practice Sendo multiple times a day, taking a quiet moment to enjoy the sencha experience.
Resource about Japanese Teas: Global Japanese Tea Association
This article was originally published on November 6, 2009. It has been updated by the publisher.
Thanks for an excellent piece of history on Sencha, a tea that I love. It was only inevitable that tea would be brought to all people of all classes in societies like Japan, just like was done in the UK and early America. It is true spirituality to make tea available for everyone, including the poor.
How fascinating that sencha was a liberating tea – such an interesting history. I much appreciate the information about this wonderful brew. The fact that only 1% is exported speaks strongly of the national consumption of tea. It truly is part of this ancient culture. I wonder at what age children begin to take part in this ritual.
Thank you Tiffany for enlightening us more on beautiful sencha. Outside of matcha, it is my second most consumed tea. I tried a super fresh 1st flush in the late 90’s and it floored me. I’ve never looked back.
Until now, I did not know a lot about it’s customs and heritage, so thank you for a fine delivery.
I do have a question though.
Is it really only 1% of Japanese grown tea that gets exported, or is that historical data? I know we see a lot of sencha being shipped worldwide (most being chinese), but with the more recent popularity in loose leaf, hasn’t that 1% increased?
Hope this finds you well.
I would like to know of the health benefits of Sencha Tea ?
I’m a tea addict. I could never get through an entire day without a cup of freshly-brewed loose sencha green tea. The smell alone is enough to make my mouth water and the delicious sensation of fresh hot tea sliding down my throat is something that I always take time to relish during my tea break. Sencha Green tea has tons of health benefits and is a great source of antioxidants. The ever increasing sale of sencha green tea actually, is due to its ability to produce fat oxidation. This simply means that drinking sencha green tea will act directly on your body to lessen your fats because of its natural oxidizing property. Some of the best sencha green tea can be found at trentonteas.com. Cheers!