What is “Sanban-cha”, or the 3rd crop of tea?

We are in the process of picking the 3rd crop of tea at the moment. By the way, do you know what the “3rd crop of tea” is? The answer is quite simple. The 3rd crop of tea is the 3rd picked tea leaves starting from April.

Since the temperature after the 1st crop of tea picking is usually high, tea sprouts grow intermittently. So we pick the 1st-, the 2nd-, and the 3rd crop of tea intermittently. If we don't pick the tea leaves, they grow extremely fast, so we do need to prune them.

During the 3rd crop of tea picking season, the high temperature and the strong sun light make more astringency element, including catechin (tannin), which makes tea sour. The amino acid content of the 1st crop of tea is larger than that of the 3rd crop of tea, but the catechin content is vice versa.

[the amino acid enhances the taste of “Umami” catechin enhances the taste of “bitterness”]

Please drink water before you are getting thirsty.

Please note that tea has a diuretic effect.