Blended Sencha is now available. All Blended Sencha items are limited
edition only available this winter season.
With a single cup of Blended Sencha, one can concurrently enjoy two different characteristics: the aroma of Sencha and the taste of Gyokuro. Blended Sencha is more sweet and mellow than basic Sencha, characteristic of Gyokuro. But, it has a more refreshing aroma than Gyokuro, characteristic of Sencha.
The aroma of Sencha and the taste of Gyokuro are created by a labor-intensive blending technique similar to that of Blended Sencha Premium or Super Premium and the agricultural techniques for contributing tea such as our Blended Sencha Pinnacle to exclusive tea tasting events.
Arcanum is a great secret of nature, a natural mystery or special blend of natural ingredients, known only to a small group of specialists, such as alchemists. We call this tea "Arcanum" because it is a special blend of Sencha which provides a dramatically intense and balanced flavor.
(visit to Sencha shopping category)
Blending technique as well as evaluating technique are important factors for tea manufacturers and tea merchants in order to intensify the flavor, fill in gaps of flavor, or keep the flavor equalized throughout the year.
Our Blended Sencha Premium and Super Premium are blended in order to dramatically intensify the flavor. Depending on the skill of the tea manufacturer, the flavor of blended tea will either become dramatically intensified or completely destroyed.
The taste and aroma of the tea leaves to be blended must work well together.
Most teas actually do not taste well when blended together, so the tea
manufacturer must have a thorough understanding of the blending technique,
as well as specific knowledge of which finished teas and breeds of tea
can be blended. Some teas create excellent harmony when blended together.
The tea manufacturer must choose these teas wisely to create a top-quality
finished product. In addition, the difference in degrees of diffused sunlight
before harvest affects the final product of the blended tea. It does not
work well to blend tea leaves grown in full sunlight and tea leaves grown
in totally diffused sunlight. Extreme flavors don't work well in most cases.
The above factors, especially the breed of tea and growing technique (diffusion
of sunlight), largely influences the blended flavor. They are central in
blending. Therefore, the tea manufacturer must train on a day-to-day basis
- the blending of tea is a true art form and the manufacturer must be a
skilled alchemist.
Needless to say, all our tea leaves used for blending are healthy and in ideal condition. It is impossible to redeem defective tea leaves with blending techniques. If defective tea leaves are blended with healthy leaves, unfortunately the healthy leaves absorb the unexpected flavors of the defective leaves, and the entire batch is ruined. Therefore, it is extremely important for farmer and tea producer to grow and buy only healthy tea leaves. The purity and quality of the final tea product depends on the careful and vigilant discipline of the farmer and tea producer every day from conditioning the soil and growing the tea leaves to harvest and packaging. In this way, we ensure that only healthy, top quality tea leaves are sold to the customer. This way of producing green tea with an eye to detail and quality is an important part of Japanese green tea culture and tradition.
(visit to Sencha shopping category)
Exclusive tea fairs, attended by tea connoisseurs and those within the Japanese green tea industry, are held a few times each year in order to improve Japanese tea agricultural techniques and manufacturing techniques. Practical farmers and manufactures contribute their labor-intensive tea to exclusive tea fairs. The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries awards a prize to the most excellent tea.
Our Blended Sencha Pinnacle is contributed to this exclusive tea fair.
The tea leaves contributed to the tea fair take enormous efforts, much
more so than usual tea leaves, and are grown only in small amounts.
The depth of mellow taste of this tea is ranked well above most high grade Japanese green teas. As above, the tea leaves contributed to the exclusive tea fair are extremely well managed, so that the subtle mellow taste is amazingly deep. The second feature of this tea is the exceedingly fresh aroma of young tea leaves. Although generally the best time to gather tea leaves is when the tea tree has five sprouts, and three sprouts for even the highest grade Sencha, these tea leaves are picked when the tea tree has only one or two sprouts. Because of this, the tea leaves are quite short and fine, and look like tiny green needles. The third feature of this tea is a noble flavor like Gyokuro brought by diffused sunlight. The tea leaves for this tea are shaded from sunlight when the first baby sprouts begin to appear until the time they are picked, when the tree has only one or two little sprouts. This is approximately 15 to 20 days. Generally tea leaves for usual Gyokuro or Matcha which are not contributed to the tea fair are shaded from sunlight beginning just after the first sprouts fully appear or the second sprouts begin to appear. Shading the sunlight too early disturbs the growth of the tea sprouts due to the lack of photosynthesis. However, at the same time it helps the tea leaves create an amazing deep mellow taste.
As you have learned above, our Blended Sencha Pinnacle is quite a rare and valuable tea.
(visit to Sencha shopping category)
We have arranged to add three limited edition Blended Sencha teas.
One of them is sold only at exclusive tea fairs in Japan, and has been developed in order to characterize each advantage of Sencha and Gyokuro. The other two items are composed of fine and unique breeds of tea with special characteristics. Each individual tea is more sweet and mellow than basic Sencha, characteristic of Gyokuro. But, it has a more refreshing aroma than Gyokuro, characteristic of Sencha. Blended Sencha Super Premium and Blended Sencha Premium are limited editions of 400 packages each. Blended Sencha Pinnacle is a limited edition of just 250 packages. All three teas are only available this winter season.
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Blended Sencha Super Premium (80g/2.82oz) US$29.00 (Now available)
Blended Sencha Super Premium is a blend of Ohiwase and Meiryoku breeds of green tea. These tea leaves are sprouts that are small and soft and not fully-grown... |
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Blended Sencha Premium (80g/2.82oz) US$23.00 (Out of stock)
Blended Sencha Premium is a blend of Sencha and Gyokuro. This tea is composed of four breeds of green tea: Kanayamidori, Sayamakaori, Yabukita, and Okumidori... |
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Blended Sencha Pinnacle (40g/1.41oz) US$36.00 (Out of stock)
Blended Sencha Pinnacle is sold only at exclusive tea fairs in Japan, attended by tea connoisseurs and those within the Japanese green tea industry. This tea has been developed in order to characterize each advantage of Sencha and Gyokuro... |
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