Ichiban Sencha

Mike, Brigitte, and Elvira visited the Otsuka family in the spring of 2026. They day we arrived was the very first day for this tea and this tea season! The Otsuka family has been growing tea in the coastal hills of Kakegawa for nearly 150 years, and their devotion to the craft is visible from the fields themselves: one nearby hill has been trimmed into the shape of the Japanese character for "tea." This Ichiban is their pride, made from the tea fields that surround their factory.

"Ichiban" means "first," and this tea earns the name( Ichibancha) , harvested in the earliest days of the season, typically late April, when the young leaves are at their most concentrated. The tea plant has had all winter to accumulate theanines that give good body and sweetness. And the cathechins (like EGCG) have not yet overpowered the theanines. It is made at an old, traditional factory and then finished at their plant. The result is a sencha with real presence: bright and vegetal upfront, with a clean citrus lift that keeps it lively through the finish. Compared with the polished and almost pastoral quality of Matsuda's Sencha, this Ichiban has the punch and intensity of Tokyo's rush hour.