Compare two teas
Side by side across seven dimensions. There is no verdict and no winner — the purpose is to understand the difference, not to be told which to buy.
Why these two get confused
Two of the three standard steaming depths. Most sencha sold without a descriptor is chumushi, so a first fukamushicha often reads as a fault rather than a style.
TeaHQ has written about this pair
How many seconds the leaf spent in steam, which decides whether the cup is clear and aromatic or cloudy and thick. Cloudiness in Japanese green tea is one of the most misread signals in tea: here it is the deliberate product of the steaming choice.
- Steaming time
- Chumushi sencha: Roughly thirty to sixty seconds — the default.Fukamushicha: Up to two minutes.
- What it does to the leaf
- Chumushi sencha: Some breakdown, still recognisably whole leaf.Fukamushicha: Breaks it down considerably; a lot of fine material.
- What the liquor looks like
- Chumushi sencha: Clear to slightly hazy.Fukamushicha: Cloudy and deep green, with sediment that settles.
- What it tastes like
- Chumushi sencha: Balanced — the point everything else is described against.Fukamushicha: Heavy and savoury, with much less aroma and much more weight.
- How it brews
- Chumushi sencha: Ordinary sencha timings.Fukamushicha: Very fast. Broken material extracts quickly, and a normal sencha steep over-extracts it.
- What it does to a filter
- Chumushi sencha: Passes cleanly.Fukamushicha: Clogs fine mesh. Japanese pots for this style use a wide integrated filter for exactly this reason.
- Where it comes from
- Chumushi sencha: The national default; most unlabelled sencha is this.Fukamushicha: Associated with Shizuoka, where the style was developed for leaf that needed more from the steam.
In summary: None of these is a grade. A cloudy fukamushi cup is not a fault and a pale asamushi cup is not weak tea — they are two ends of one processing decision, and the practical consequence is timing: if a sencha turns bitter at a steep that used to work, the new packet may simply be deeper-steamed.
Point by point
| Dimension | Chumushi sencha | Fukamushicha |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Green tea · unoxidised | Green tea · unoxidised |
| Production | In order: Steaming (Japanese fixation) → Rolling and shaping → Drying. bud and two leaves and spring harvest. | In order: Steaming (Japanese fixation) → Rolling and shaping → Drying. bud and two leaves and spring harvest. |
| Origin | Japan | Japan — Shizuoka |
| Flavour | grassy, vegetal and umami. medium and silky in the mouth. Aroma: fresh grass, seaweed, sweet pea. Moderate in character. Moderate in intensity. | vegetal, umami and creamy. full bodied, rich and smooth in the mouth. Aroma: steamed spinach, cream, sweet grass. Moderate in character. Moderate in intensity. |
| Brewing | Western brewing (teapot or mug): 1.5–2.5 g/100 ml at 65–75 °C, first steep 60s. Kyusu brewing (Japanese style): 3–5 g/100 ml at 65–75 °C, first steep 60s of 3 authored. Gongfu brewing (gaiwan): 3–4 g/100 ml at 75–85 °C, first steep 20s of 4 authored. Cold brew tea: 1.5–2.5 g/100 ml at 3–8 °C, first steep 28800s. Ice steeping (kōridashi): 5–8 g/100 ml at 0–5 °C, first steep 2400s. | Western brewing (teapot or mug): 1.5–2.5 g/100 ml at 65–75 °C, first steep 40s. Kyusu brewing (Japanese style): 3–5 g/100 ml at 65–75 °C, first steep 60s of 3 authored. Gongfu brewing (gaiwan): 3–4 g/100 ml at 75–85 °C, first steep 20s of 4 authored. Flash-chilled iced tea: 2.5–4 g/100 ml at 75–85 °C, first steep 120s. Cold brew tea: 1.5–2.5 g/100 ml at 3–8 °C, first steep 28800s. Ice steeping (kōridashi): 4–6 g/100 ml at 0–5 °C, first steep 1500s. |
| Cultural context | Not recorded for this tea. | Not recorded for this tea. |
| Who may prefer it | Someone who wants presence without being dominated and wants to enjoy it on the first cup. It tolerates an imprecise brew. | Someone who wants presence without being dominated and wants to enjoy it on the first cup. It tolerates an imprecise brew. |
Nothing above is a recommendation. The last row describes the drinker each tea suits, using each tea’s own authored fields and the same sentence structure for both, so neither can be framed as the safe choice.