Mizudashi sencha
Sencha prepared by cold steeping for several hours in the refrigerator rather than with hot water. Cold water extracts amino acids readily and catechins poorly, so the result is sweet and savoury with almost no bitterness — a genuinely different drink from the same leaf.
Character
Sweet and savoury with the astringency almost entirely absent, which is chemistry rather than a better grade of leaf.
- Flavour
- Sweet, Vegetal, Umami
- Aroma
- Fresh
- Mouthfeel
- Light, Silky, Smooth
- Complexity
- Moderate
- Notes
- sweet pea, melon, light seaweed
- Aftertaste
- Sweet and clean with no astringency at all.
Delicate intensity: light in the mouth with little grip. forgiving of a long steep.
Provenance and production
- Origin
- Japan
- Cultivar
- Yabukita
- Oxidation
- Unoxidised
- Harvest
- Spring
- Processing
- Steaming (Japanese fixation) → Rolling and shaping → Drying
Brewing
Cold brew tea
1–2 g/100 ml · 4–10 °C · 1 authored infusion
Gongfu brewing (gaiwan)
3–4 g/100 ml · 75–85 °C · 4 authored infusions
No caffeine estimate is authored for this tea. TeaHQ does not infer one from its category, because category predicts caffeine poorly — matcha and gyokuro carry more than many black teas.
If you like this
Grouped by why they were suggested, strongest reason first. Nothing here is a blended score — a suggestion appears under the best reason that exists for it, and never under a weaker one as well.
Editorially linked
Someone wrote down why these two belong together. The note below is theirs.
- Gyokuro
Cold water and shade suppress the same catechins by different means, and both cups end up sweet and savoury rather than astringent.
- Sencha
The same leaf cold-steeped and hot-steeped, producing genuinely different drinks. Cold water barely extracts catechins, so the sweetness is chemistry rather than a better grade.
Similar sensory profile
Shares controlled flavour, aroma and mouthfeel descriptors. A looser match — two teas can share descriptors and still taste nothing alike.
- Anji Bai Cha
Shares 7 descriptors with Mizudashi sencha: sweet, umami, vegetal, light, silky, smooth and fresh.
- Anji Bai Cha supreme
Shares 7 descriptors with Mizudashi sencha: sweet, vegetal, umami, light, silky, smooth and fresh.
- Junshan Yinzhen
Shares 6 descriptors with Mizudashi sencha: sweet, vegetal, light, silky, smooth and fresh.
- Karigane
Shares 6 descriptors with Mizudashi sencha: sweet, umami, light, silky, smooth and fresh.
- Bai Hao Yin Zhen (Silver Needle)
Shares 5 descriptors with Mizudashi sencha: sweet, light, silky, smooth and fresh.
- Bai Ji Guan
Shares 5 descriptors with Mizudashi sencha: sweet, light, silky, smooth and fresh.