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Make the most out of sencha leaves




Sencha is one of those teas that you just have to have in your tea cupboard so why not make the most out of sencha leaves? Sencha is the most popular Japanese tea in the world. Around 70% of all green teas produced in Japan are sencha types, which makes it even more popular than matcha. While matcha is considered ceremonial and culinary tea, sencha is an essential part of every day life in Japan. There are special tea ceremonies that include sencha and you can buy it already prepared in supermarkets or vending machines. Sencha is very easy to brew, saves your teeth from decaying, has just the right amount of caffeine, has a positive influence on immune system and much more catechin in loose leaf form than matcha. Besides, sencha can be used in many different ways. Even after you think your tea leaves are all used up, you can still recycle them in numerous ways. Read our guide and try it yourself.

Drink it first

Sencha is very easy to brew is you follow some basic recommendations. Always use freshly boiled water and let it cool down to 73-75 degrees Celsius. Put 1 gram of leaves on every 50-100 ml of water. Steep for a minute. Next steeping should last only for a few seconds, and third one can be longer. Sencha has a delicate fresh and lightly astringent flavor followed by sweet aftertaste. Drink it hot.

Make the Most Out of Sencha Leaves

Use the last brew to soak your oats or rice

If you are an oats lover, you can soak your oats overnight in sencha tea. Prepare it the same way as you would for drinking. If you are using left-over leaves, you can use higer temperature. The famous Japanese dish ochazuke is made with sencha leaves. Sencha tea is poured over cooked rice with (usually) salmon on top and few traditional toppings.

Make eye patches

Use paper tea filters and fill them with left-over sencha tea leaves. You don’t need to use a lot, 2-3 grams per tea will be an adequate amount. Make sure they are still warm but not hot, just pleasantly warm on the skin. Lie down, close your eyes and place them on dark circles under your eyes for 15 minutes.

Use tea sachets for bathing

Try collecting used dried sencha leaves in a tin can. When your sencha pouch is empty and you made your last cup, you can reward yourself with one more enjoyment – sencha bath. Fill a few tea paper filters with sencha leaves and close them with a stapler to make sure none of the leaves will find their way out. Fill the bathtub with hot water and add 10 home-made sencha tea sachets. Used tea leaves will still have enough scent and benefits to make your skin feel great. You can use new tea leaves as well, but you might want to reduce the number of sachets.

Make the Most Out of Sencha Leaves

Feed plants with left-over leaves

And finally, if you tried all our suggestions and still have some left-over used tea leaves, you can give your house plants a nice surprise. You can use them as a fertilizer. If you forgot about your brewed cup of sencha for a couple of hours, you don’t need to pour it out the drain. Instead, water your plants with it. Always be sure that you are not using hot water for watering (teaing) plants. In no time they will reward you with beautiful healthy appearance.
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The ultimate spring renewal with tea




With spring knocking at the door, it’s time for the ultimate spring renewal with tea. Start cleaning your body – from the inside and outside. Tea has been around for thousands of years. First considered a medicine, then food, later as the drink of social importance that cherishes simplicity and beauty of life, tea is the most important beverage in the world. While Eastern countries know the importance and benefits of loose leaf teas, western people are still at the beginning of this amazing journey. Fast forward your journey with simple ways to include tea in your everyday life and start your spring renewal with green tea today.

Our tea journey guide will show you how to feel great both physically and mentally, by incorporating tea into your daily rituals.

Ultimate Spring Renewal with Tea
Tea and health from the inside

Green tea is great for health, but some green teas are better than the others. Not all green teas have the same amount of EGCG, the most important antioxidant that makes green tea so healthy and desirable. EGCG is contained in tea leaf and is released at high temperatures. This is why matcha is considered healthier than many other green teas – it has at least double the amount of ECGC in a brewed cup than other green teas – because you are consuming the whole leaf. Next choice would be sencha. If you are into macrobiotics, kukicha is the best tea for spring renewal. With almost zero caffeine and the ability to alkalize the body, kukicha is the perfect choice for any time of the day.

Tea and beauty from the outside

Ultimate Spring Renewal with Tea
Powdered green tea like matcha is perfect for making facial masks. It will help reduce dullness and dark circles under the eyes, clear your complexion and bright up the skin. Home-made matcha mask is a perfect natural skin care before the first intense rays of sun hit your face.  Bath sachets made of sencha green tea are so easy to make that you will want to soak in tea all the time. What matcha will do in a facial mask, sencha in the bath will do for your whole body. Green tea has antibacterial properties, invigorates the skin and makes you more relaxed. And it smells heavenly fresh and green.

Tea and inner peace

After the complete skin care routine, you will already feel very relaxed. Now that you have taken care of your health, you are in a perfect state of mind to completely enjoy a cup of tea. Jasmine Dragon is an excellent choice. Delicate jasmine scent mixed with tea leaves to create a perfect visual and tasting experience will help you relax even more. Even in the old China people needed to be in a calm, peaceful, simple state of mind to be able to enjoy tea completely. Create a habit of having your own evening tea ritual. Try to keep it for at least a month. Make tea drinking experience all about peacefulness, serenity, enjoyment and relaxation. Dedicate time to yourself and your tea.

Tea and social gatherings

When tea is enjoyed by one person it can bring serenity and wisdom, but when it is shared by two or three people, it brings enjoyment and bonding. Even the notes in historical writings said that more than three is too much. Invite a friend or two and throw them an inspiring tea party. Kyoto Cherry would be a perfect choice for an early spring outside tea party under the cherry tree. Your own little hanami (cherry blossom watching) can include home-made pastries and drinking tea from delicate tea ware. Is there a better way to welcome spring?

Try all these steps for the ultimate spring renewal with tea and tell us how you feel. Before you know it, you will become addicted to a healthier and greener way of life, and welcome spring with newly found joy.