New Tastes in Col a A Novel Flavor for Familiar Drinks, Dishes, and Dessertsage FUKAMUSHICHA POEL Eu Say r ae GYOKURO Elvira CreaSencha Japan’s most popular tea The flavors that distinguish sencha are a delicate sweetness and a mild stringency. Sencha refers to the first picking of the tea bush, which takes place from late February in warm climates to the end of May in cooler areas. The tea leaves of later 6ick: SS ee ese ings, which have more astringency, constitute the tea known 2s tancha. The glossy leaves of the tea bush are nearly uniform in size and impart a refreshing fragrance. Sencha is high in vitamin C and is especially popular with women as a teatime drink. A new variety of sencha (mieudashi-sencha) specially prepared for steeping in cold water is now available on the market and enjoys brisk sales in summer. Powdered sencha (funmatsucha) is another product on the <= market, although it is easily made by grinding sencha leaves in a coffee mill or 2 food processor. itis excellent for adging to drinks and cooked Sencha dishes. Fukamushicha _ {dea/ for dlelicate stomachs The processing of fukamushicha is the same as for sencha (see pages 54-55), except that for fukamushicha the leaves are steamed two or three times longer. As a result, the leaves become withered, and the color ' abo darker: However the taste remains just as “sweet” and moderate, =a and the fragrance is richer and deeper. Despite the stronger aroma, fuka- mushicha is gentle on the stomach, and you can drink as many cups as you wish Kukicha A refreshing fragrance to wake up to Fukamushicha Kukicha consists of stems and stalks normally discarded in the production of sencha, gyokuro, and matcha teas. Kukicha produced from the stalks of gyokuro (see opposite) is known as “karigane” and is highly prized Kukicha made fram either gyokura or sencha is served in the same way as) See its base tea, The clean taste and light fragrance are sure to help you wake up feeling refreshed. Konacha Good for cooking with or for sprinkling over dishes Kukicha Konacha (or “tea powder") is the tea served at sushi restaurants, where it is called “agari." It consists of the rejacted buds and tea “dust” left aver from the processing of sencha and gyokuro. It is reasonably priced and has ‘a strong color, flavor, and aroma, making it an ideal cooking ingredient. Cees — Bancha_ 4 tea that refreshes the palate after meals After the first picking for sencha is done from late February to the end of May, new shoots and leat buds begin to grow, and these are used for bancha, Bancha leaves are picked in June (nibancha), August (sanbancha), Konacha