I was considering very seriously making an order earlier in the year for some 2009 Shincha teas direct from Japan. I got so far as to fill out an order form, but when it came time to total the costs of the three kinds I wanted to try and calculate in the shipping, I started having heart palpitations and discarded the order. This was a fortunate decision as our online business had a major (and I mean MAJOR) problem just a couple of weeks later and we are still recovering from the inventory SNAFU. So, I figure I'm getting to fully savor a 2009 Snafu this year rather than the 2009 Shincha I was more interested in experiencing. Still and all...

The happy end to this rather boring story is that the inventory issue is getting worked through, with unexpected benefits in terms of organization, and I got to try a 2009 Shincha after all. Most importantly, the shincha I have been able to sample is heavenly and has fairly convinced me that next Spring, SNAFU or no, I will most certainly place an order for some 2010 Shincha.

Le Palais Gourmet offers Fukamushi Shizuoka, a 2009 shincha (meaning this is the first picked and processed green tea of the year...all new leaves, and processed immediately for sale...no freezing, no storage, no nothing. Just steam, process, pack and send it out to folks for celebratory drinking). In Japan, there are numerous Shincha festivals to mark the release of the new teas. These green teas are available for a limited time only and once supplies are exhausted, they are gone until the following year. Shinchas tend to be expensive (Le Palais Gourmet offers this tea at $95.00 for 3.5 ounces).

Fukamushi Shizuoka is grown in Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan. That prefecture is home of Mt Fuji, and not only that, is the prefecture where 45% of all of Japan's green tea is grown. Fukamushi is a deep steamed green tea. According to some sources, the deeper the steaming of the tea, the hotter the water that can be tastefully used when preparing the tea. For my own tastes, I used a very low water temperature with this tea, not wishing to mishandle it in any way and not having enough experience to want to test any limits.

The beautiful leaf of Fukamushi Shizuoka is immediately engaging. The leaves are dark emerald green and range in length from longer slender leaves to nearly pulverized dust as you often see with senchas. The smell of this tea is nearly impossible to explain. Its aroma is intensely sweet and so very much like ripe fragrant fruit that I spent a long time just inhaling it. The aroma is remarkable. I've never smelled any tea like it.

I used 160 degree water for all of my steepings. In future, I will try out higher temperatures. For the first infusion I steeped two minutes. The tea liquor is bright green and rises frothily to the surface. The tea is green as matcha, just stunning, and with a sweet smell rising up with the steam.

The tea has a bright, cheery fluorescence to it and at first a very mild taste, bright, springy and very sweet. The first infusion is not cloudy at all. I let the tea sit a couple of minutes before taking my next sip and the transformation was quite interesting. What had begun as a notably mild tea had developed very quickly into a thicker tasting, smooth and sweet tea. The tea has a wonderful creamy viscosity to it after a short time sitting. With verdant glowing color, superb sweetness coupled with an almost impossibly creamy consistency, this is a fantastic tea that can do no wrong. I think I will try brewing this again at a somewhat higher temperature: perhaps 180 or so. I'm hesitant because while I truly believe the tea can do no wrong, I have somewhat less confidence in my own handling!

For subsequent infusions (second and third) I steeped this tea at 4 minutes. The second infusion with a four minute long steep time yielded a cloudier tea with good flavor overall, but just a bit of bitterness. I should have held to no more than a three minute steep since the first steeping was at such low temperature and for only two minutes. I still found the tea enjoyable but was a bit chagrined to have acted so quickly with it. A third steeping had lost much of its sweetness. Still smooth and silky, it had a more distinctly vegetal taste. As this tea grows cold, it loses its flavor. It should be drunk hot and in good time.

For someone new to shinchas, or Japanese greens in general, I think a series of short infusions with lower temperature water is the way to go. I'm going to try some more of this wonderful tea tomorrow, using 160 degree water to start and a two minute infusion followed by more short infusions perhaps with hotter water. I don't think I will steep more than three minutes in any infusion, particularly using hotter water. I found 160 water to be excellent for bringing out flavor. As I learn and gain a little more experience with this type of tea, I may be more willing to experiment with hotter water, but I found myself very comfortable and amply rewarded with my initial treatment of this delectable tea. What a treat!

The price tag on this tea I find a little alarming and I'm a bit critical of Le Palais Gourmet in this regard. Their offerings seem to be on the pricey side. While the Fukamushi Shizuoka tea is simply superb, I would be inclined as a customer to source out a shincha directly from Japan for comparison. There are several good sources online (O-Cha and Yuuki-Cha come to mind) which air freight Shincha and all their other Japanese green tea offerings directly to consumers all over the world (at a reasonable price) and have excellent reputations and good, incredibly fast service. I should note, however, that this green tea is a hand picked tea. Most Japanese teas are mechanically harvested with very cleverly designed shearing machines that roll over the specially spaced tea bushes. Hand harvesting surely adds cost to the tea and perhaps is part of what makes the flavor profile of this tea so exquisite. Perhaps this additional information also should encourage a little experimentation and comparative analysis.

If cost is not an issue or you are a dedicated customer of Le Palais Gourmet already, I can honestly say that this is one of the most delightful teas I've ever had the fortune to enjoy sampling. I'm convinced that nearly anyone would enjoy this magnificent tea. The sweetness is just delicious, color is stunning and the smell of the dry leaf is enough to hook anyone. More than anything, this tea would appeal to a wide audience as its overwhelming flavor profile is that of sweetness rather than the vegetal or ocean like types of taste that can be a turn off to some palates.

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Jamie Teaviews.com Reviewer » Read more about this reviewer on Jamie's profile page. » Find a list of recent posts by Jamie.

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