Competition Grade Sencha Pinnacle

This item is a limited edition of 400 packages only available this winter season.

Competition Grade Sencha Pinnacle is available only at the National Tea Fair, attended by tea connoisseurs and those within the Japanese green tea industry. (For more information concerning Competition Grade Tea, http://www.hibiki-an.com/contents.php/cnID/1 )

Competition Grade Sencha Pinnacle is created from a breed of tea known as Yabukita. Yabukita is ideal for Sencha because of the excellent flavor which is well balanced with refreshing aroma, smooth taste, and pleasant level of bitterness. Due to the ideal feature, Yabukita breed tea is frequently awarded first place in the Sencha category of the National Tea Competition.

This fine green tea has an excellent, deeply mellow taste. Many teas contributed to the tea fair have a deep mellow taste because the teas are evaluated by the judges on this specific characteristic. The depth of mellow taste of this tea is ranked well above most high grade Japanese green teas.

The second feature of this tea is the exceedingly fresh aroma of young tea leaves. Tea leaves for Blended Sencha Pinnacle are picked only by skilled hands, never by machine (For more information regarding hand picked, http://www.hibiki-an.com/contents.php/cnID/9#m1 ). Although generally the best time to gather tea leaves is when the tea tree has five sprouts, and three sprouts for even the highest grade Sencha, these tea leaves are picked when the tea tree has only one or two sprouts. Therefore, the tea leaves are quite short and fine and look like tiny needles. Tea of this quality is difficult to find at even the most exclusive tea shops in Japan, and can only be found at the tea fair. The aroma of this tea is young and fresh like no other tea you have ever experienced.

The third feature of this tea is a noble flavor like Gyokuro brought by diffused sunlight. The tea leaves are shaded from sunlight when the first baby sprouts begin to appear until the time they are picked, when the tree has only one or two little sprouts. This is approximately 5 to 10 days.

We recommend this item only to customers who have already tried each of our Super Premium or Pinnacle grade teas. Even in Japan it is almost impossible to find. This is quite a unique opportunity to try the deep mellow taste, fresh aroma of young tea leaves, and noble flavor like excellent Gyokuro found only at Japan’s National Tea Competition.

Note
Please brew Competition Grade Sencha with 176F (80C) water for 1min., which is the same way as regular Sencha.
Another way to enjoy Competition Grade Sencha is to brew it so that it has a mellower taste. In this case, we recommend you brew Competition Grade Sencha with a little lower temperature water (158F/70C) for 1 1/2min.