Kagoshima Saemidori Fukamushi Kabusecha

Description

Kagoshima Saemidori Fukamushi Kabusecha (鹿児島さえみどり深蒸しかぶせ茶) is a Japanese green tea that undergoes ‘deep steaming’, a process that imparts a character that is more complex and sweeter than other conventional steamed green teas. Grown in Kagoshima City of Kagoshima Prefecture, it is made from the Saemidori (さえみどり) cultivar. It is also a partially shaded Kabusecha tea (similar to gyokuro) that is shaded for 5 days prior to plucking to concentrate the flavour in the leaves. We source this tea via a specialist tea merchant in Shizuoka. This batch was harvested in April 2024.

The Saemidori cultivar was registered in Japan in 1990 and is a cross between Asatsuyu and Yabukita cultivars. It is an early budding cultivar, being harvested 4-7 days prior to Yabukita plants. While it is primarily used for sencha and matcha production, it is also sometimes used both for shaded and for deep steamed teas. The main areas of production are mostly in southern Japan on Kyushu and primarily in Kagoshima Prefecture. This cultivar is characterised by a reputation for high quality, producing brightly coloured teas that are well regarded. It exhibits naturally lower astringency and higher sweetness, resulting in a balanced flavour with a fine interplay between umami and sweet notes.

This Kagoshima Saemidori Fukamushi Kabusecha, like most of Japanese green teas, is steamed rather than pan roasted. However it is rather more special as it undergoes a lengthier steaming processes, referred to as deep steaming. In Japanese, fukamushi (深蒸し) means ‘deep steamed’ as the tea is steamed for 1-2 minutes as opposed to the usual futsuumushi (普通蒸し) steaming, which is only 30 seconds to 1 minute. There is also an even lighter version that is called asamushi (浅蒸し) or ‘light steamed’ tea, which undergoes steaming for less than 30 seconds. Even though gyokuro, kabusecha and even bancha can be deep steamed, it is usually sencha that undergoes such treatment. Hence it is of particular interest to be able to try a shaded Kabusecha that has been deep steamed.

This longer steaming process makes quite a big difference to the flavour of the tea. It diminishes the astringency and increases sweetness, resulting in a good balance between the classic umami depth and a pleasing sweet aftertaste. The steaming process makes the tea leaves very soft, so during the next processing stage, which is rolling, the leaves and tips can often break. This results in variable leaf size, with many very small broken leaf fragments. It can appear like a low-quality sencha, but the reality is completely the opposite as it the result of the specialised deep steaming process.

When brewed, this type of tea has a stronger, more vibrant, green color, with a cloudy liquor and sediment visible. There are Japanese teapots specifically designed for brewing fukamushicha, which have a finer brewing mesh with a larger surface area so that it doesn’t get clogged with the fine tea particles. We recommend using a very fine mesh infuser if you have one. On the plus side, having fine particles in your tea can increase the health benefits, as you will be consuming more leaves (and their catechins, fibre, vitamins, and chlorophyll), very much akin to matcha drinking!

Kagoshima Saemidori Fukamushi Kabusecha has a very fine, small leaf with a fresh, green, grassy and vegetal aroma. It produces a slightly opaque but bright green tea liquor with a grassy and lightly toasty aroma. The smooth taste is sweet and savoury, nicely balanced between the two. The overall vegetal profile has creamy, toasty and grassy notes. Further tasting notes include fresh asparagus, nori seaweed and a hint of citrus. The aftertaste is lasting and refreshing with a grassy and savoury edge. This is a nicely balanced tea with a complex but approachable character, clearly showing the benefits of this particular cultivar and the processing methods.

It is best brewed at 70°C for around 2 minutes, with multiple infusions. For best results use a special Fukamushi tea pot or other brewing vessel with a very fine mesh filter. Our Samadoyo infuser mugs with the steel infuser do a pretty good job at filtering this type of tea.

Kagoshima Saemidori Fukamushi Kabusecha green tea was first featured in our November 2024 Curious Tea Subscription Boxes.