What is sencha green tea?
“Cha” is the Japanese word for tea, and you'll find that all the different types of Japanese tea therefore have names ending in “cha” - the first part of the name refers to the kind of tea. Originally, “Bancha” (“coarse tea”) was the most commonly consumed tea in Japan, but “Sencha” (“roasted tea”) is now by far the most popular.
Sencha is a green tea, noteworthy in particular because it is made without grinding the tea leaves (“Matcha” is powdered green tea, which was brought into Japan from China before unground green tea). Strangely, although Sencha literally means “roasted tea”, it is created by steaming the leaves rather than pan-firing them. Chinese green teas tend to be pan-fired, so if any green tea is going to be called “roasted”, it would probably be more accurate to give this name to Chinese varieties!
Still, naming issues aside, Sencha is the most popular tea drunk in Japan. Grown in full sunlight, Sencha goes through a production process of several detailed stages, such as sifting and cutting to ensure that only buds and the top parts of the tea leaves are used. The aforementioned steaming stage is not unique to Sencha, but it is what creates the major difference between Japanese green tea and its Chinese counterparts. The steaming stops the proccess of oxidization within the tea leaves, and impacts the flavor quite significantly, giving it a seaweed-like flavor not found in Chinese green teas. As well as having this decidedly more vegetal taste, Sencha also tends to be much greener in color than other teas, and with slightly higher astringency. Its distinctive flavor complements seafood meals and – oddly – chocolate, and Sencha is a very common drink at dinner tables or simply during leisure times throughout Japan. Although usually consumed as a hot beverage, it's not uncommon to drink Sencha chilled during the warmer summer months.
There are different kinds of Sencha. For example, there is some variation from region to region within Japan, with each kind being named after the method of leaf processing used to produce it. Areas such as Kyushu produce a leaf that is comma-shaped, while Shizuoka and Fukuoka produce needle-shaped leaves.
There's also some variation in Sencha types according to when the tea is harvested – the very highest quality Japanese green tea is known as “Shincha”, which means “new tea”, and refers to the first month's harvest of Sencha. This tea is highly valued because of its superior, fresh flavors (which include an unusual hint of sweetness and a lower astringency) and because it has a much higher concentration of beneficial vitamins.
Another difference between types of Sencha comes from how the tea leaves are processed – take Fukamushi Sencha, for example, which is simply a more deeply steamed variety of Sencha. Fukamushi tea leaves are steamed for up to three times longer than regular Sencha leaves. This extra period of steaming causes the leaves' fibers to break down even further, and causes the leaf shape to end up somewhat coarser than normal Sencha leaves are, resulting in a more easily brewed tea with a rather darker color and deeper flavor.
Useful Links:
http://www.inpursuitoftea.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=GJ500_PAR&CartID=0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sencha
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