Department store in the Shinjuku area
We have a fun sales area with excellent teamwork!
What’s your regular brand?
Can you tell us some of your fond memories involving shincha?
There are times in life, like when people get married or their life circumstances change, when you and the people you work with end up going your separate ways. There are some people who I wasn’t that close to when we were working together, but later on, I found myself remembering them and started giving them our seasonal tea shincha every year.
Thanks to these shincha gifts, we have gradually maintained regular contact. I have two important friends like that.
We haven’t got together that often, but now that I think about it, I realize that we’ve maintained our friendship for over a decade.
Even now, I continue to send them shincha every year, together with some confections and best wishes for good health and happiness.
It’s a small thing, but it’s one of the things that warms my heart.
How do you enjoy it?
Right after shincha goes on sale, I prepare it with water that is either slightly hot or a bit on the hot side, and savour shincha’s fresh fragrance. After a while, once the rainy season is over, I drink cold-brewed shincha in order to make it through the hot summer.
On my days off, I make a large batch in advance, brewing multiple pots using the same tea leaves, and then drink it throughout the day. Shincha’s refreshing fragrance and subtle umami are perfect for summer, so I stock shincha tea leaves in my freezer so that I can drink it all summer long.
Department store in the Shinjuku area
I learn many things from customers every day.
What's your regular brand?
Shincha Medium Can (130g) w/box
Can you tell us some of your fond memories involving shincha?
For me, shincha is both a once-a-year treat and a sign that spring has arrived. When I first came to work at Ippodo, senior staff members in the sales area seemed to be a little restless during this time of year. I wondered why the workplace had that kind of atmosphere, but, at some point, I, too, developed an intuitive sense for when it was shincha season. It’s a time when I’m busy dealing with a lot of shincha-related work, but I now look forward to the conversations I have with customers when people start asking if shincha has come in yet, and how they rejoice when it finally goes on sale.
Of course, another thing I look forward to during this time is savouring the taste of each year’s shincha myself. When the first shincha shipment comes in, I take a break and enjoy it, even if it’s a busy morning. And, at home, drinking shincha with my husband has become a time-honoured tradition.
How do you enjoy it?
I recommend preparing shincha with boiling hot water. The conventional method of preparing it using water that has been cooled slightly after boiling does allow you to enjoy the distinctive taste and fragrance of each year’s shincha as it changes with the climate, influenced by temperature variations from one year to the next. But my favourite way to prepare it, using boiling hot water, is more reliable for bringing out shincha’s delicious taste. And, as long as you are careful to brew it for the right amount of time, you will be able to fully savour shincha’s fragrance.
Shin-Marunouchi Building Store
I prepare good Japanese tea for take-out at our Shin-Marunouchi Building Store.
What's your regular brand?
Can you tell us some of your fond memories involving shincha?
I vividly remember seeing a customer at the Shin-Marunouchi Building Store tearoom go so far as to eat the shincha tea leaves left over in the teapot. In that moment, I gained a renewed appreciation for how wonderful shincha is, so much so that this customer cherished every last tea leaf.
I feel confident giving shincha to family and people to whom I owe a debt of gratitude because it is such a special blessing that is only available during this time of year. They all look forward to receiving shincha each year.
Now that this year’s shincha season is about to start, everyone is getting excited and looking forward to this refreshing fragrance of springtime.
How do you enjoy it?
•An easy way to prepare shincha the night before your day off
Put slightly more tea leaves in the teapot than usual, pour on cold water, and let sit in the refrigerator overnight. Come morning, you’ll have smooth, refreshing shincha tea ready to be savoured!
•Iced shincha that brings out its fragrance
To enjoy an invigorating fragrance that is distinctive to refreshing shincha, brew it for a short period of time using water that is a little hotter than usual, and then pour it into a glass full of ice. When you drink it and take in the fragrance, you’ll experience a wonderfully refreshing feeling that only shincha can provide.