Shop our Shincha

Shincha is made by using the leaves from the first picking of the season. These leaves are the youngest, freshest and are also known for having the highest concentration of nutrients in them. This tea has become famous for its taste and seasonality and tea lovers around the world wait all year to be among the first to try it! Discover everything you need to know about Shincha with our Shincha tea complete guide.

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What is shincha?

Shincha is the first tea to be harvested in the spring of each year. What makes shincha green tea different from a first harvest sencha for example, has to do with how the tea is blended. With a regular first harvest sencha, a farmer will try and capture a specific taste profile, and keep it somewhat consistent year over year. With shincha sencha, the farmer will simply take the first harvest from the tea plant and sell it right away.

shincha tea in a cup

Shincha flavor profile

The flavor of shincha green tea is very complex. Depending on a few different factors, the tea can take on sweet, savory, tart and grassy notes. The fresh sprouts of the first harvest contain the highest concentration of nutrients, giving a vibrant green color and flavor to many types shincha tea.

History of shincha green tea

Shincha season is accompanied by a lot of excitement in Japan. Back before the widespread use of refrigeration, people would wait around all year in anticipation to be among the first to try the new shincha tea harvest. Now it is still popular, but with modern storage techniques there is not much of a difference between well stored tea and fresh tea.

how to brew shincha

Shincha brewing instruction

In medieval Japan, the most common way to consume green tea was in powdered form. What can be thought of as an early form of matcha, rose in popularity because of its use in the Japanese tea ceremony. In the early 1700’s, people began to advocate for an easier way to prepare tea, without all the rules and principles

A tea farmer by the name of Nagatani Soen developed a tea that could be prepared in a simpler way. He found that by steaming the leaves and then rolling them into these tight needle shapes, you could lock in the flavor until the tea was ready to be infused into hot water. This means that you just need to brew the leaves in a teapot and then filter them out as you pour.  It was here that senchatea was born.

Flavour profile of Japanese sencha green tea

It is difficult to describe the taste profile of sencha tea, because it is such a broad category. In sweeter green teas, you get notes of tropical fruit, sweet corn and steamed vegetables. On drier senchas, you will notice more of these citrusy flavor profiles, with notes of straw and late summer grass.

shincha leafs

Our shincha is exclusively sourced from small farmers in Japan

After traveling around Japan for the past few years, we have met with dozens of different farmers and sampled many different types of shincha. We have ultimately decided on a couple of our favorites and these are the ones we have chosen to share with everyone at Nio Teas!

Frequently Asked questions

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Delivery

We offer free worldwide shipping options to all of our customers all across the world. On the larger orders, we also provide free express shipping, which can arrive in just a few days. If you need your shincha tea urgently, please be sure to select the faster shipping option at checkout, which will be provided either for free or for a reduced fee.

Teas and Teaware

If you have any questions about our shincha green tea, you can ask our experienced customer service team. The best way to reach us is via email, but if you would prefer to contact us on social media, we also respond to direct messages and comments on Youtube, Tiktok, Instagram and Facebook.

Order issues

While issues with orders are quite rare, mistakes do happen and you may experience a slightly longer wait time due to customs, holiday traffic or weather. We will automatically provide tracking information shortly after you order so you can find out where your shincha tea is at all times.

Payments

We are currently accepting payments from all major credit cards, paypal and even bank transfer. If you have a question or concern as you are trying to pay for your shincha green tea, please feel free to reach out to us and we can help resolve it!

Returns & Refunds

While it is rare for someone to tell us they don’t like the shincha sencha, occasionally it may happen. We want everyone to end up with a tea they like, so we would prefer to send you a replacement tea rather than have you stuck with a shincha you don’t like.

There is no need to return the shincha green tea to us, just keep it and share it with someone who would appreciate it! Feel free to contact us by email or social media and we can help to solve whatever issue you might have with the tea you ordered! 

Sencha & Shincha Education Center

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