Organic Kagoshima Sencha Musashi

2011 HARVEST COMPLETELY SOLD OUT.

Introduced here is an organic sencha cultivated in Kagoshima made from the monumental Okumusashi cultivar. It's monumental due to the fact that it was the first ever cultivar that was successfully crossbred using two registered Japanese cultivars. It was registered in Sayama in 1962. This monumental cultivar, which is now extremely rare, exhibits strikingly strong characteristics and an authentic Japanese green tea taste. Being a late budding variety Okumusashi naturally develops a higher percentage of such antioxidants as catechins and gives a totally top-quality lingering aftertaste that simply can't fail to stimulate the senses.

The leaves are a mix of intact needles and smaller particles that are a characteristically dark shade of green. Being dark in color these leaves brew up into a predominantly yellow infusion with a tinge of green. If you brew this sencha strong the first few sips present a robust yet surprisingly palatable mouthfeel which feels extremely cleansing and leaves an excellent quality bittersweet impression in the mouth. On the other hand, if you brew this sencha with less leaf it shows off a completely different side. It is much sweeter, balanced, and the delicious underlying flavors that were masked in the stronger brew are really brought out to the forefront.

There's no doubt Okumusashi offers a pretty contrasting drinking experience to other cultivars we offer, but we find it just as delicious nonetheless. Some modern day green tea drinkers who have a very misinformed narrow-minded approach to what Japanese green tea should look and taste like might find it's strikingly strong characteristics out of their scope, but on the other hand if you enjoy a more traditional authentic tasting cuppa, appreciate experiencing and learning about variety characteristics (especially rare monumental ones), are willing to accommodate brewing parameters, and understand the virtues of aftertaste, you'll most likely enjoy this organic sencha!

Regarding brewing, this sencha doesn't need much leaf to produce a solid tasting brew. In fact, the stronger you brew this tea the longer and more intense the finish and aftertaste becomes, so to control this, you can easily adjust the leaf or the water amount to your preference. We found a lower brewing temperature and a smaller than usual amount of leaves really brings out the excellent qualities and balance in this sencha.

Brewing Suggestion

Steep	Leaf-Water Ratio	Water Temperature	Infusion Time
1	0.5g-0.75g/1oz	65°C/149°F	50 seconds
2	-	70°C/158°F	10-15 seconds
3+	-	Hotter Water	Longer Steeps

Additional Information

Origin	Kagoshima, Japan
Organic Certification(s)	JAS
Harvest Date	May 2011
Harvest Period	100% Ichibancha (First Harvest)
Steaming	Chumushi (Medium)
Cultivar(s)	100% Okumusashi
NET Weight	100g/3.53oz