Fukamushi Sencha
Fukamushi sencha is deep-steamed Japanese green tea, steamed about one to two minutes, giving fine broken leaf and a dark green, thick, sweet, cloudy cup.
Definition
Fukamushi means "deep steamed". Standard sencha is steamed for roughly 30-60 seconds; fukamushi is steamed about twice as long or more, often 60-120 seconds. The longer steaming softens the leaf so that rolling breaks it into smaller pieces, and the finished tea looks finer and more powdery than regular sencha. The style developed in the mid-20th century in Shizuoka, particularly around Kakegawa and Kikugawa, where the sun-grown tea from the Makinohara plateau had thick leaves that tasted harsh as regular sencha. Longer steaming reduced that bitterness. Fukamushi now accounts for a large share of Japanese sencha. The cup is dark green and cloudy, with fine leaf particles suspended in it, and tastes rounder and sweeter with less astringency and grassy sharpness than lightly steamed sencha. Some aroma is lost in exchange. The fine particles mean that some of the leaf itself ends up in the cup, much like a light matcha.
In Depth
Brew at 70-80°C (158-176°F) with a shorter first steep than regular sencha: 30-45 seconds, 5 g to 150-200 ml. The broken leaf releases flavor quickly and becomes bitter if left. Second infusions need only 5-10 seconds.
Use a kyusu with a fine mesh filter. Japanese teapots with a wide, fine stainless or ceramic mesh (obi ami or fukamushi-specific screens) are designed for this tea. A pot with only a few holes clogs. Expect some sediment at the bottom of the cup; this is normal.
The dark color can mislead: it does not mean higher strength in caffeine terms but reflects suspended leaf. Fukamushi is often a good choice for cold brewing, since fine leaf extracts readily in cold water: 10 g per liter for 3-6 hours in the refrigerator.
See Also
- Shizuoka Tea
- Japanese Green Tea
- Steaming Levels in Sencha