Single cultivar sencha, okuharuka from Sayama by the 15th generation Okutomi family. This has been one of our favourite sencha in the spring time - we brew it at slightly higher temperature than our usual sencha from Yame. It has a soft and gentle scent that is reminiscent of spring.

Ichoucha literally translates to withered tea. After the leaves are picked, instead of going straight to steaming like the usual process of sencha (steamed Japanese green tea), the leaves are left withering in the room for a few hours before going into the steaming process.

A departure of the stronger umami profile of sencha from Yame, we like ichoucha for its refreshing and floral or fruit like profile (by withering the picked tea leaves before making tea, it activates the oxidase in the leaves and makes the fragrance like flowers and fruits).