Koshun vs Sofu
Japan’s two aroma-bred cultivars, and the pair that shows the country’s cultivar programme reaching for something other than a better sencha. Both are strongly aromatic, both are modest in yield, and both are punished by the processing Japanese green tea usually receives.
cultivar
What is being compared
Point by point
| Aspect | Koshun | Sofu |
|---|---|---|
| Aromatic character | High and floral, with a distinct fruit edge. | Intensely floral — closer to an oolong aroma than a sencha one. |
| Steaming that suits it | Light. Deep steaming buries the character it was bred for. | Light, and it is also made semi-oxidised, which no standard sencha cultivar is. |
| Processing range | Green tea, chiefly. | Green tea, Japanese oolong-style and lightly oxidised production. |
| Yield | Moderate. | Modest. |
| Who buys it | Producers making a fragrant single-cultivar sencha. | Producers experimenting outside the green-tea category. |
| Brewing note | Slightly cooler water and a short steep keep the top note intact. | Depends entirely on how it was made; a semi-oxidised Sofu wants oolong parameters, not sencha ones. |
The short answer
Both are arguments against the idea that Japanese tea processing is fixed. Sofu in particular makes the point twice, because the same plant appears as a floral green tea and as a Japanese oolong, and a drinker who bought the second expecting the first will not recognise it.
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