# First Flush Sencha

> First flush Japanese sencha, steamed in the old style: jade-green needles that brew a pale, grassy cup with a whisper of the sea and a savory sweetness. Contains caffeine.

Price: 16.50 USD · in stock

## About
Early morning, the window still gray, and a cup that tastes of fresh-cut grass and a whisper of the sea. In East Asian tradition green tea has long been taken at the start of the day, a quiet ritual rather than a jolt.The leaves arrive tightly rolled, a deep jade green that unfurls into needle-thin ribbons the moment hot water touches them. Steamed rather than pan-fired, in the old Japanese style, they keep a grassy, almost seaweed-bright aroma and a color that stays green in the cup. The liquor is pale and faintly cloudy.This lot is a first flush, picked in the earliest weeks of the Japanese harvest, when the bushes send up their most tender growth after winter. Early leaves carry less tannin and more of the amino acid theanine, which gives good sencha its savory sweetness, the quality tea drinkers call umami.DetailsJapanese green tea, first flushSteamed, not pan-firedContains caffeineHow to useSteep a heaping teaspoon at 175°F for ninety seconds; hotter water scalds the leaf and draws out bitterness before sweetness. Expect two or three infusions before the leaves are spent.A cup at the desk or a cup at the window: either way, take it slowly.