Japanese Sencha Green Tea [日本のお茶 煎茶]

Japanese people are known for their longevity. Some attribute it to their genes. Others to their life styles and diets.

But some think that the secret lies with their daily consumption of Ocha. Yes Green Tea! Especially one called "Sencha"

What is Sencha and why is it so good for you? What are some of the health benefit of Green Tea?

First of all there are different kind of Green Tea. Some are called Sencha as mentioned. Others are called Macha. Hojicha, Gyokuro, the list goes on and on.

What are the differences? The differences lies in the way these tea leaves are grown and how they are processed.

In this post I want to talk about Sencha. Sencha is the most popular type of green tea in Japan and about 80-90% of the Green Tea that are consumed are Sencha. When they say Ocha it normally means this "everyday tea", Sencha.

Sencha is grown being exposed to direct sun light as opposed to Gyokuro which is hidden from the sun light. Sencha is the first and second flush of the Green Tea.

Now I want to talk about why Green Tea is good for you. The Green Tea is rich in Catechin. Catechin is a natural phenol antioxidant plant secondary metabolite. Because of this Green Tea has that bitter taste which is refreshing to a lot of people.

Sencha which is the first and second flush of the Green Tea contains the most amount of Catechin. Catechin gets oxidated very quickly. However because of the way Sencha is processed, the function of the oxidase is considerably suppressed thus Sencha is not oxidated. This is why oolong tea and other regular western tea, it has that brownish or reddish color because the Oxide Polymer is produced due to oxidation. And because of that oxidation, Catechin that is normally transparent or has no color turns into red or brown. But Green Tea that is rich with anti-oxidant stays green or transparent because no oxidation took place.

Sencha's Catechin or the antioxidant is said to be very effective in killing germs so many Japanese people gargle their mouth and throat with Sencha to prevent catching cold. 

Sencha[煎茶] made and packaged in Shizuoka Japan.

Shizuoka is known for producing Japan's highest quality Green Tea.

Label on the package.

It is vacuum sealed to maintain maximum freshness.

If you'd like to enjoy high quality authentic Japanese Sencha,

please email me or visit my ebay page.

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