I recently received a sample of shincha green tea from Stash Tea from Brazil. This is my first contact with Brazilian tea. Stash’s website says:
“The Yamamotoyama Brazilian tea gardens are in two highland areas in the central part of the country at an elevation of 2,000-2,500 feet. The climate here is comparable to Japan and optimal for growing superlative green tea. In fact, tea bushes from Japan were carefully selected and transported to Brazil to plant in these gardens.”
The leaves, like many Japanese teas are steamed and chopped and they emit a sweet, vegetal smell. I infused the leaves for 1 min at 180F, the resulting liquor was a greenish-yellow.
The tea has an unusually creamy mouth feel. It reminds me of a milk oolong as far as mouth feel goes. There was a dull astringency and a light vegetal taste as well. This is a delicious tea from an uncommon source. It will be interesting to see what else Brazil has in store for us in the future. Definitely give this tea a try if you want to expand your tea palate.