ORGANIC GREEN TEA - SENCHA FUJI (Organic Green Tea)
Country of Origin: China Region: Jiangxi Province, WuYuan County Shipping Port: Shanghai Grade: Special green tea - Japanese Sencha style - Fuji type Attitude: up to 2500 feet above sea level Manufacture Type: Steamed and pan-fired Cup Characteristics: Some pungency. Delicious green tea character with depth and body Infusion: Tending bright forest green
CERTIFYING BODY: ECOCERT - L’isle Jourdain, France CERTIFICATE NUMBER: 407CN0010w19 REFERENCE NUMBER: OT20001022 F028 DATE OF CERTIFICATE: November, 2000. (vacuum packed + nitrogen flushed, no quality loss for 12 yrs)
Information:
Organic tea is produced without the input of chemical fertilizers or pesticides and herbicides. Unfortunately the yield per acre is lower and quite often quality can suffer compared to when fertilizers and others inputs are utilized. Nevertheless with good manufacturing techniques the cup characteristics can be maintained at a very high level - such is the case with this tea. This tea is a top quality Green Tea with good ‘green tea’ taste properties - slightly vegetative and fruity, but refreshing and clean; typical of Japanese manufacturing techniques.
Tea was introduced to Japan from China in the 7th and 8th century. Records indicate that Japan’s Emperor Kammu gave visiting monks an imperial gift of powdered green tea. Emperor Kammu created a government post called ‘Supervisor of Tea and Tea Gardens’ as Japan had begun to cultivate it’s own tea. That this post was in the medical bureau of the government indicates that even then, there was tremendous respect for the health aspects of tea. From 800 to the 1200AD Japan relied heavily on China for it’s tea supply. Because tea arrived in limited quantities from China tea became a luxury used for medicinal and spiritual purposes. A Zen Buddhist, Eisai Myoan returned from China (from what is now known as Jiangxi) with tea seeds and planted them at his temple. He soon realized that the quality was superior to any tea currently grown in Japan. These seeds formed the basis of Japan’s tea industry in the centuries to come. Further evidence of the known correlation between health and tea was found in a small book that Eisai wrote, entitled (translated), Tea Drinking is Good for Health. In this book he wrote that tea drinking confers many benefits including curing lack of appetite, diseases caused by poor quality drinking water, and beriberi (a vitamin B deficiency). Around this time another tea enthusiast in Japan developed the “Ten Virtues of Tea”. Amongst the virtues listed are:
Drives away the Devil Banishes drowsiness Wards off disease Strengthens friendship Keeps the viscera in harmony Disciplines body and mind Destroys the passions Gives a peaceful death
Hot tea brewing method: Can be used repeatedly - about 3 times. Use water about 180’F or 80’C. Place 1 teaspoon of tea in your cup, let the tea steep for about 1-3 minutes.- do not remove the leaves from the cup. Once the water level is low - add more water, and so on and so on - until the flavor of the tea is exhausted. Alternatively, scoop 2-4 teaspoons of tea into the teapot, pour in boiling water that has been freshly drawn (previously boiled water loses most of its oxygen and tends to be flat tasting), steep for 2-4 minutes (to taste), stir (the leaves will sink), pour into your cup and enjoy ‘straight-up’.
Iced tea brewing method: (to make 1 liter/quart) : Place 6 teaspoons of tea into a teapot or heat resistant pitcher. Pour 1 1/4 cups of freshly boiled water over the tea. Steep for 5 minutes. Quarter fill a serving pitcher with cold water. Pour the tea into your serving pitcher straining the leaves. Add ice and top up the pitcher with cold water. Garnish and sweeten to taste. [A rule of thumb when preparing fresh brewed iced tea is to double the strength of hot tea since it will be poured over ice and diluted with cold water.]
