Harvest: 2024 First Flush Spring Shincha

Our Sencha Sumire is a vibrantly green and deeply fragranced tea from the famed Kirishima district of Kagoshima. Made by an award winning grower/producer, this blend of two cultivars (Yutaka Midori and Kanayamidori) creates a richly satisfying Sencha. Enjoy its overtone of exotic flowers and silky mouthfeel. Easy to brew, lively and awakening, this Sencha will quickly become your everyday green tea.

A sun-grown Japanese green tea, Sencha is typically bright in character and body. Once picked, tea leaves oxidize quickly, so to prevent this oxidation Sencha leaves are fanned with damp air until they are steamed and cooled shortly after harvest to halt enzymatic oxidation and preserve the brilliant, green taste of the camellia sinensis tea plant. You will be able to tell the quality of your Japanese green tea in its verdant, green hue, as improperly steamed or lower quality Senchas will lose their color, flavor, and aroma.


Tasting Notes

Vibrant, silky jade liquor with notes of exotic florals, verdant greens, and tobacco.

Origin & Ingredients

  • Kagoshima, Japan

Green Tea (camellia sinensis)

How to Brew

Brew 5 grams (~2 full tsp) of Sencha in 16 ounces of 165° F water for 2 minutes. Please note that Sencha, like many other Japanese green teas, is particularly sensitive to the temperature of the water, and we find 165° F to be the best temperature to preserve the lively nature of this Sencha. If you are using hotter water, we recommend a shorter steep time.

What is Tea?

Did you know all tea comes from the same plant?!

Learn what makes green tea different from black tea, why herbal tea isn't really tea at all, and how tea goes from the fields to your cup.

How to Brew Tea

While every palate is slightly different, there are a few basic concepts that will help you brew the perfect pot of tea, every time! Explore our in-depth guide to brewing tea at home to discover everything you need to know about how to brew each of your favorite teas and herbal tisanes.

About Saratoga Tea & Honey Co.

White bags of loose tea on shelves at Saratoga Tea & Honey Co.

Our passion for teas...

We are delighted to be able to share one of the largest and most varied collections of single origin traditional teas on the East Coast with our communi·tea. Personally curated by owner Hayley, these teas come to us from small farms and collectives and represent the best of their terroirs and production styles. While wondering our shelves in-person or online, you will discover familiar favorites like English Breakfast and Long Jing (Dragonwell) alongside rare teas like Shan Lin Xi and herbal tisanes blended for mindfulness, inflammation, and much more.

wall of monofloral raw honeys at Saratoga Tea & Honey Co. in Saratoga Springs NY

& bees...

Raw honey is one of nature's most marvelous gifts. Not only is honey a marvel of energy-giving carbohydrates fortified with antioxidants, minerals and beneficial enzymes - making it the healthiest natural sugar - honey comes in a rainbow of flavors and varieties with something for everyone to appreciate and enjoy. From dark, robust honeys like Buckwheat and Chestnut to light or amber honeys like Tupelo or Orange Blossom, the subtle and sometimes not so subtle flavor differences between varietal honeys lend themselves to extraordinary flavor combinations and experimentation in the kitchen, on the charcuterie board, or in your favorite cup of tea.

all started with our Queen Bee!

A trained chef, Hayley's vision for Saratoga Tea & Honey Co. has been her entire lifetime in the making. Though she was still drinking espresso at the time, the Tea & Honey seeds were planted in the kitchens of Michelin-starred restaurants with training and appreciation for food and beverage as not just sustenance, but experience and hospitality. Her time spent as a chef-instructor at Jacques Pépin's French Culinary Institute introduced her first to matcha (and its ability to enhance sustained and steady focus), then to the subtleties of single-origin traditional teas like high mountain Taiwanese oolong. As a celebrated and awarded taster and master of culinary arts, in 2015 Hayley opened the doors to Saratoga Tea & Honey Co. Since then, she has cultivated a communi·tea for discovering rare and exciting teas, extraordinary raw honeys & unique gifts produced by small farmers and artisans from around the world.