Sencha is the Japanese green tea steamed, rolled, and dried without grinding. Unlike powdered matcha, sencha is brewed by infusing whole, processed leaves in hot water.
Japanese tea makers steam fresh leaves for roughly 15–20 seconds to halt oxidation. The leaves are then cooled, rolled, shaped into slender needles, and dried. This steaming-based process gives sencha its vivid green color and often vegetal, grassy flavor, distinguishing it from many Chinese green teas, which are commonly pan-fired.
Sencha developed into its modern form during the 18th century. In 1737, Uji grower Nagatani Sōen developed a process that became the standard for Japanese leaf tea. Sencha is now Japan’s most widely consumed tea, and the word covers many styles influenced by harvest date, growing region, shading, and steaming time.
A common mix-up is calling every Japanese green tea sencha. Matcha is ground into powder, gyokuro is shaded before harvest, and bancha is generally harvested later in the season. Shincha refers specifically to the year’s first harvest of sencha.