Shizuoka Sannen Bancha

Description

Shizuoka Sannen Bancha (三年番茶) is a beautifully roasted organic green tea that consists almost purely of tea leaf stems. Unlike a standard Hoji Kukicha, this green tea has been aged for three years after initial processing. Following that it undergoes extensive baking to produce a complex sweet and tangy flavour that is supremely comforting. We source this tea via a tea merchant specialising in rare Japanese teas. Made from leaf stalks collected from various farms in Shizuoka in 2021, it was roasted and finished in summer 2024.

This Shizuoka Sannen Bancha is a traditionally roasted green tea that has also been aged. The tea follows normal green tea processing but at the final stages it is left to age for three years in a controlled cooled environment. After the three year period, it is finished in a similar way to a Hojicha roasted green tea. It is exposed to high temperature, followed by a quick cooling phase. This imparts a characteristic roasted profile, at the same time lowering caffeine and catechin content. As catechin is responsible for astringency in tea, this results in a much mellower, non-astringent flavour that is hugely appealing. Furthermore, the ageing process would have already reduced those parameters, meaning this aged Sannen Bancha is even more mellow and relaxing when compared to a normal Hojicha.

Also this tea is essentially a type Kukicha (茎茶) tea. Unlike our award-winning Makinohara Kukicha, this Sannen Bancha consists almost solely of stems that are extensively roasted. Kukicha has a much sweeter and less astringent flavour due to different chemical compounds found in the stems of the leaves. During production of sencha and other Japanese green teas, stems are separated and removed from the tea leaves. So as not to waste the stems (which make a great tea anyway!), the makers produce various type of kukicha. Some would be then still a mixture of sencha leaves and stems, while others would be almost exclusively left as ‘twig tea’. This ‘twig tea’, as it is sometimes known, is also known by other names, such as karigane (雁が音) or shiraore (白折) if made from stems of gyokuro production.

When visiting Kanazawa in Japan a couple of years ago, we got the chance to try another special tea, called Kaga bōcha (加賀棒茶). In this case bōcha (boucha) is another name for stem tea that is used in certain regions of Japan. Kaga bōcha is local to the area surrounding Kaga City, Ishikawa Prefecture – about 45 minutes away from Kanazawa. We were really taken aback by the smooth roasted and sweet flavours of this local speciality. This version from Shizuoka is really rather similar, although perhaps a bit more roasted, to the Kaga bōcha we tried. So we were extremely excited when we found this unusual roasted twig tea for our shop!

This Shizuoka Sannen Bancha organic green tea consists of dark roasted stems that produce an amber liquor with a comforting toasty aroma. The taste is light, mellow and creamy-smooth. The flavours are subtle but are dominated by the overall roasted, warming character. The roasting is definitely on the heavier side but this leads to a non-astringent taste that has no vegetal dryness or grassiness. The combination of ageing and roasting (processing resulting in lower caffeine and astringency) and usage of stems (naturally sweeter and lower astringency) makes this for a very easy-to-drink cup with plenty of sweetness running through the taste. The clean roasted flavours carry through the tasting to develop into fruity, cereal and tangy fruity notes. The aftertaste is lasting, still delivering that comforting roasty quality.

It is best brewed at 80°C for around 3 minutes, with multiple infusions.

Shizuoka Sannen Bancha green tea was first featured in our November 2024 Curious Tea Subscription Boxes.