Sencha Finishing Processes
At the end of May, we often receive questions from customers asking, “When will the new tea (sencha) go on sale?” However, just because the tea has been harvested doesn’t mean it can be sold right away. This is because tea generally requires a process called shitate-kakō (finishing process) before it is ready for sale.
Tea Requires Two Rounds of Processing
Tea, as a product, requires far more processing than typical agricultural crops before it’s ready for market. One of the reasons it’s difficult for new players to enter the tea industry is precisely because of the number of processing steps involved.
Primary Processing Starts Right After Harvest
Japanese tea must be processed quickly after harvest to prevent oxidation of the tea leaves. Typically, primary processing must begin within a few hours, or at most half a day, after harvesting (If there is a delay before processing, the leaves must be stored in special containers with constant airflow) because processing needs to happen immediately after harvest, completing this initial phase becomes part of the farmer’s responsibilities.
Life during the busy season for tea farmers is grueling. They harvest as much as possible early in the morning, and then spend the afternoon and evening—sometimes even through the night—completing the primary processing (During the peak harvest-processing period, many farmers lose weight rapidly due to lack of sleep).
Since it’s difficult for one household to handle everything alone, some farmers work together to operate shared processing facilities, improving efficiency through collaboration.
What Is “Aracha”? → Tea After Primary Processing
Tea leaves that have completed primary processing are called “arachá” (literally, "crude tea"). Farmers usually sell this arachá at tea markets to tea wholesalers.
Secondary Processing (Shitate-kakō)
From arachá, the next step involves removing unnecessary parts such as stems, old leaves, and powder in order to produce the final product. This process is known as secondary processing, or shitate-kakō, also called shiage-kakō or seicha (tea finishing).
Since doing this manually would take a huge amount of time, specialized machinery is required. For individual farmers, purchasing such machines represents a large investment and is often inefficient. Therefore, tea wholesalers typically own the machines for secondary processing and handle this stage after buying the arachá from farmers.
What Kind of Tea Requires Secondary Processing?
In particular, tea grown using covered cultivation (kabuse-cha) requires secondary processing. That’s because covered cultivation encourages stem growth, and in the arachá state, the tea contains too many stems, making it difficult to enjoy the true flavor of the tea.
From experience, I can say that sencha or tencha that has been covered for more than two weeks cannot be sold as a final product without secondary processing. On the other hand, open-field cultivated sencha (non-covered) can often be enjoyed as-is, even in its arachá state. In fact, some people prefer arachá because of its fresh, natural aroma that is unique to unrefined tea.
Secondary Processing of Sencha
Let’s take a closer look at the secondary processing steps for sencha. The main processes are sorting and drying.
Sorting
Using cutting machines and sieves, the leaves are sorted by size, and lightweight leaves are removed using air flow. Stems are removed using static electricity and color sorting machines. Through this process, the arachá is separated into two categories: “homcha” (main tea) and “demono” (by products).
The homcha is sold as sencha after sorting. The demono consists of parts unnecessary for the final product, such as stems, overly large leaves, and powder. But these are not thrown away—they are used in various ways, depending on the company.
For example:
- Stems can be collected and sold as kukicha (stem tea, also called karigane).
- Stems can also be roasted and sold as hojicha.
- Large leaves of good quality can be cut and mixed back into homcha.
- Lower-quality large leaves may be blended into bancha or genmaicha.
- Powder can be sold as konacha (the tea served in sushi restaurants), or used in tea bags.
Drying and Roasting
Drying the sorted tea further reduces its moisture content, making it better suited for long-term storage. While arachá typically contains about 5% moisture, secondary drying brings this down to around 3–4%.
Depending on the drying method, a distinct roasted aroma known as hi-ka can also be added. Some customers prefer tea with a strong hi-ka, and in some cases, it enhances the flavor of the tea depending on its original quality. There are so many steps involved before tea can be sold! Next time, I’ll explain the processing of tencha.
