Degrees of steaming in Japanese green tea
Does anyone know about vendors that sell sencha with different degrees of steaming, where the leaves from the same plantation and harvest have been used? I'd like to compare the difference in taste between asamushi and fukamushi (possibly chumushi), but without differences in cultivar, terroir, season, etc.
I think you should be able to do this through any vendor who has a large Japanese green tea selection. Thes Du Japon is one store where you can browse teas based on different attributes and possibly find teas for comparison. Yuuki-Cha, Yunomi, and O-Cha are two others you could check out.
I can't recall seeing the 'same' sencha in all attributes though with different levels of steaming. I'm guessing @Chip would know!
I can usually taste the difference in steaming levels regardless of other attributes. Certainly fukamushi stands out as quite different (to me) than the other methods.
My guess is the tea producer would probably (?) select a steaming level before they start, based on last year and/or factors they observe in the gardens or after picking--or possibly after tasting small samples of each steaming style--and then choose a method that results in the best end product.
I can usually taste the difference in steaming levels regardless of other attributes. Certainly fukamushi stands out as quite different (to me) than the other methods.
My guess is the tea producer would probably (?) select a steaming level before they start, based on last year and/or factors they observe in the gardens or after picking--or possibly after tasting small samples of each steaming style--and then choose a method that results in the best end product.
I also haven't found something like that from any of the suggested vendors.
I find that sencha can vary a lot in taste between cultivars, terroir, and even brewing temperature, so when I've tried fukamushi earlier, the difference didn't seem much bigger than what I've noticed between more traditional senchas (except for texture and colour of course). I'm sure it's something one learns to discern over time, but it would be easier to taste teas where steaming is the only difference.