Sencha spotlight: The beauty of 水出し茶
The different seasons in Japan have long been heralded for different reasons, with the type of food consumed poignantly matched.
Similarly, the way in which tea is drank can be tweaked to match the season's ambience. Quite often during the warmer days, tea is enjoyed in the form of “mizudashi sencha”, which translates to “cold brew sencha”.
Furthermore, the brewing process is relatively simple:
- Place 15g of the tea leaves into an infuser or bottle of your choice.
- Add one litre of soft water.
- Let the leaves steep overnight in the refrigerator. We recommend a minimum of eight hours.
This method of preparing tea is surefire way of quenching your thirst regardless of the seasons.
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水出し煎茶 - Cold Brewed Sencha
Sencha prepared through this method tends possess an extremely strong umami taste with slight undertones of sweetness. The reason for this is because when the tea leaves are brewed at a lower temperature, theanine (responsible for the umami flavour) and epigallocatechin (EGC) are easily extracted.
While at the same time, the extraction rate for epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) - an ester of EGC and gallic acid, which is responsible for the bitterness in tea - is significantly reduced in cold water. Furthermore, the amount of caffeine in a cup of cold brew sencha is also much lower.
This makes the drink not only tasty but beneficial for your health by improving your immunity.
レモン和紅茶 - Japanese Black Tea with Lemon
The slight sour tanginess of the lemon is complimented by the sweet flavour profile and aroma of Wazuka Town's Black Tea. Traditionally, Japanese black tea is sweeter than black tea from other regions such as India and Sri Lanka.
The lemons used are organically farmed and sourced from Ehime Prefecture.
玄米茶 - Genmaicha (Roasted brown rice with sencha)
A delicate balanced mix of roasted rice and tea, genmaicha is well known for its deep taste. The natural aroma of the rice is also further enhanced in the absence of heat used during the steeping process.
The brown rice or genmai used to create this product was also harvested from Wazuka Town. As part of d:matcha Kyoto's on going project to revitalise the region, we started farming rice pesticide-free and organically in 2021.
ほうじ茶 - Roasted Japanese green tea
Houjicha or roasted Japanese green tea is well known for its natural sweetness and earthy grounding aroma. Farmers in Wazuka Town harvest tea leaves for the production of houjicha after the First Flush is completed.
As compared to its sencha counterpart, the caffeine levels in houjicha is significantly lower. Part of this can be attributed to the roasting the leaves undergo during processing. This however also means the tea leaves can be enjoyed by those who are pregnant or children.
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Explore d:matcha Kyoto's 水出し茶 Collection today!
