Shincha, Ichibancha, Aracha ... oh my!
Posted: Apr 17th, '13, 21:04
I often receive questions regarding confusion over Japanese terms during the Shincha season ... and what is Shincha? So, here is Shincha 101 which I posted back in 2008. This is Japanese tea terminology.
Feel free to add to the list of terms (either a term you are confused about or a term that you can define for us), which I will then add to this OP.
Shin cha... means new harvest tea in Japanese. It is always first flush, but not all first flush is shincha. Upon harvesting, shincha in its truest, purest form goes through complete processing, manufacturing. The Shincha is then immediately packaged for immediate sale. Shincha is traditionally off the store shelves by July. Once it is gone, it is gone til next year. They cannot make more by pulling more Aracha out of cold storage (see below).
Most will agree that Shincha offers the Japanese green tea enthusiast the freshest tasting and smelling sencha of the year. Less agreement can be found on why is it better ... or is it better than non Shincha versions of the exact same tea. Also, some say Shincha has a higher moisture content in the leaves thus limiting its peak-freshness shelf-life.
Ichiban cha is simply first flush Japanese tea. Not all ichibancha is shincha. Why? Because only a portion of first flush tea goes through complete processing, manufacturing, packaging immediately upon havesting ... earning the name shincha.
Most of ichibancha is placed into cold storage as aracha in very large airtight bales. Ichibancha goes through final processing throughout the year to provide consumers with the freshest teas possible. Aracha is pulled from cold storage as needed to go through this final processing and then packaging ... once packaged it is still simply Ichibancha, NOT Shincha, capish?
Ara cha is commonly refered to as farmer's tea. It is tea that is fully processed up to the final sorting of the leaves. So, it will have all sizes of leaf and as well as leaf stems and veins. Most ichibancha is placed into huge cold storage rooms as aracha. Traditionally Aracha was usually the very first tea to be consumed by tea farmers and fortunate consumers since it is the first tea to be completely processed, thus the name "farmer's tea."
A small portion of first flush Aracha is packaged immediately and sold as Shincha. The rest will be stored until needed throughout the year and sold as Ichibancha. If you think of it, this is a very efficient method of production from a cash flow stand point, but it also apparently ensures that the freshest Ichibancha will be available throughout the harvest year. This also keeps Shincha as ... special.
When I receive a parcel of heat sealed (often also nitrogen flushed ... but not always) Japanese Shincha, I place it into cold storage...aka, "the TeaFridge." This will keep Shincha freshest for extended periods of time. Once the heat sealed bag has been opened, it is not recommended to place it back into cold storage, but it can be done with proper sealing of the opened bag.
Feel free to add to the list of terms (either a term you are confused about or a term that you can define for us), which I will then add to this OP.
Shin cha... means new harvest tea in Japanese. It is always first flush, but not all first flush is shincha. Upon harvesting, shincha in its truest, purest form goes through complete processing, manufacturing. The Shincha is then immediately packaged for immediate sale. Shincha is traditionally off the store shelves by July. Once it is gone, it is gone til next year. They cannot make more by pulling more Aracha out of cold storage (see below).
Most will agree that Shincha offers the Japanese green tea enthusiast the freshest tasting and smelling sencha of the year. Less agreement can be found on why is it better ... or is it better than non Shincha versions of the exact same tea. Also, some say Shincha has a higher moisture content in the leaves thus limiting its peak-freshness shelf-life.
Ichiban cha is simply first flush Japanese tea. Not all ichibancha is shincha. Why? Because only a portion of first flush tea goes through complete processing, manufacturing, packaging immediately upon havesting ... earning the name shincha.
Most of ichibancha is placed into cold storage as aracha in very large airtight bales. Ichibancha goes through final processing throughout the year to provide consumers with the freshest teas possible. Aracha is pulled from cold storage as needed to go through this final processing and then packaging ... once packaged it is still simply Ichibancha, NOT Shincha, capish?
Ara cha is commonly refered to as farmer's tea. It is tea that is fully processed up to the final sorting of the leaves. So, it will have all sizes of leaf and as well as leaf stems and veins. Most ichibancha is placed into huge cold storage rooms as aracha. Traditionally Aracha was usually the very first tea to be consumed by tea farmers and fortunate consumers since it is the first tea to be completely processed, thus the name "farmer's tea."
A small portion of first flush Aracha is packaged immediately and sold as Shincha. The rest will be stored until needed throughout the year and sold as Ichibancha. If you think of it, this is a very efficient method of production from a cash flow stand point, but it also apparently ensures that the freshest Ichibancha will be available throughout the harvest year. This also keeps Shincha as ... special.
When I receive a parcel of heat sealed (often also nitrogen flushed ... but not always) Japanese Shincha, I place it into cold storage...aka, "the TeaFridge." This will keep Shincha freshest for extended periods of time. Once the heat sealed bag has been opened, it is not recommended to place it back into cold storage, but it can be done with proper sealing of the opened bag.