The Joy of Sencha — Finding Beauty in What We Cannot Control

On the Fascination of Sencha

Sencha may not be very well known outside Japan, but it is a type of green tea made from leaves of the same tea plant used to produce matcha. The leaves are placed in a kyusu (Japanese teapot), hot water is poured over them, the tea is allowed to steep, and then it is poured into a yunomi (Japanese teacup).

It is an incredibly simple process, and a cultural practice that many Japanese people enjoy in their everyday lives.

However, precisely because it is so simple, brewing a truly "delicious" cup of tea is surprisingly difficult.

You look at the tea leaves, decide what temperature the water should be, consider how long to steep them, and then put those decisions into practice.

That's all there is to it. And yet, that simple process is remarkably difficult.

There are so few things you can actually do. I think that is what makes this culture so fascinating.

I'd like to explore this idea in a little more detail. Things are about to get slightly technical, but I hope you'll bear with me.

The Taste and Aroma of Sencha

When we scientifically analyze sencha, we find that a wide variety of elements related to taste and aroma are intricately intertwined.

Taste

The main elements are as follows. (There are many different compounds within the categories of amino acids and catechins, but for simplicity, I will group them together here.)

Aroma

Aroma is extremely complex, consisting of combinations of hundreds of volatile compounds. Some of the representative aromatic elements found in sencha are as follows.

As you can see, sencha contains an extraordinary variety of elements.

And here's where things get complicated. Or rather, where things become perfectly natural, when you think about it.

Each of these components behaves differently depending on the water temperature and steeping time.

The following graphs illustrate how three representative taste-related components respond differently to water temperature and extraction time.

Even among the major components responsible for taste, the patterns of extraction are this different.

And yet, we try to create something that everyone will find delicious by adjusting only the water temperature and steeping time, while dealing with components we want to extract more of and others we would prefer to suppress.

All these different elements, controlled through nothing more than water temperature and steeping time.

And although they are not shown in the graphs, aromatic compounds also change in various ways.

It is almost impossible to control everything.

For example, imagine wanting to extract 80% umami, 40% sweetness, and 10% bitterness. Even if you choose a temperature intended to bring out the umami, you may end up extracting more bitter compounds as well.

In other words, when working with just water temperature and steeping time, there are far more things beyond our control than things we can actually control.

I believe the fascination of this culture — and I will deliberately call it a game — lies precisely in what we cannot do.

It is a game in which we recognize that we cannot control all these different elements. Within the limited range of what we can influence, we understand that our actions will produce both desirable and undesirable reactions, and we aim for something like a delicious 80-out-of-100 cup of tea.

That is how I think of this activity, and that is how I enjoy sencha.

What Sencha Teaches Me About Life

This may be a bit of a leap, but I sometimes wonder whether the world we live in works in much the same way.

When we are absorbed in our own work, it is easy to forget that our lives are made possible by the existence of diverse living organisms, nature, and all kinds of people.

Living things, nature, and human beings all encounter different environments in their daily existence. In some environments, certain individuals or elements may exert too much influence, while others may struggle to realize their potential.

Not everyone can thrive in every environment.

And although we cannot possibly control everything ourselves, we try to influence what lies within our reach, seeking to create an environment where different elements can coexist in harmony and where life can be enjoyed.

And sometimes, something unexpectedly wonderful happens — a sense of comfort or harmony that goes beyond anything we imagined, exceeding even 100 points out of 100.

I feel that this culture of tea has taught me something about living in this way.

Recognizing what we cannot control, and still searching for the best possible answer within those limitations.

That is why I enjoy tea, and what makes this game so fascinating to me.